Temporal Soul Dawn
by Andmeuths
Summary: In a World where Voldermort wins , and no hope seems nigh , time-travel is a very common solution around here. This fic attempts to take this concept to the logical extremes , starting with a single Muggle-born. Rated M for Violence
1. Opening Words

Foreward

Caution: Long Intro. Standard disclamimers apply. You may skip this , and if you want to dive straight to the action , go to Chapter 2.

Let me first clear the air here . This is not a serious fic . This came out of being very carried away from some crazy idea , a concoction of Time-travel (or Peggy Sue for Tropers out there) fics , the concept of Mary Sue , ( scratch that , God mode Sue) , and (attempted) parody that tries to take itself too seriously , when it's evident that it's based on insane premises . Mix , match , stir and take this cocktail up to 11. I admit it , it's borderline crack , and an attempt to take certain concepts and tropes and play around with it.

What this fic aims to be however, is a Take That to all those thousands of time-travel fics where Harry/Hermione/Insert Character here travels back from the future , to rectify and bring forth a more favorable out come , as opposed to canon. Now imagine for a moment how this could be taken up to eleven. Let's imagine that time-travel across time-lines has become commonplace , about as commonplace as , say Apparation in Harry Potter verse . Let's assume that this world is immune from time paradoxes- I find deterministic time-travel boring. If you kill your grandfather , you simply create a new parallel universe/time-line where your grandfather was killed by an unknown gunman , and you could simply return to your own universe , your existence intact , since your time-line still exist

Now , imagine the magic of Harry Potter verse , brought forth millenniums into the future . Imagine , instead of an odd traveler back in time , we have an entire state built on time-travel , and time-lines , expanding their reach through these time-lines , usually by contact and integration with less prominent time-lines , occasionally by subversion , and in the worst case scenario , outright conquest. This is not a Time-travel Corp. Why should we stop at the Corp level? Why not armies of time-travelers , uncounted millions , billions , quadrillions of agents dispatched at all four corners of the frontier of the Time State , making contact with , investigating , and working to integrate time-lines at the borders into the larger Multi-temporal/Universal community at large.

Imagine that civilization being far advanced , ahead of us . FTL travel , teleportation , (this is a major plot point here) , instant learning , astounding feats of genetic and Space Engineering , Dyson Spheres , artificial realities and more abound. A society that has hit the Singularity , breached Class 3 on the Kardashev scale, travels through time .

Let's not stop there , shall we? How shall we send down our hypothetical agent whose going to make first contact with a time-line , and play a decisive role in integrating the time-line into this multi-universal society. Of course we would send our best . The smartest , most astute , good in everything , as little imperfections as anyone. Most of all , they must be charismatic , and moral . For Great Justice! Characters are welcome to apply , so long as they are not that naive, and meet the qualifications. Well, what I've described here is a Sue . At least , that is how I understand a Sue . However , not all Sues are created equal – Ebony vs Haruhi is not a contest at all , for example. So this Sue is a superior brand of Sues.

Now , let's throw in a third trope , the Bad Guy wins . We know it , in Harry Potter fanfics as – Voldermort Wins! There are lots of them out there , and I have opinions of how such a scenario could possibly play out (something touched on later in this fic , actually). Most are rather dark (duh!), and disturbing number of them involve this or that character subjugated to imprisonment , torture , and whatever screwed up scenarios authors here can come up with . I;m going to take a pot-shot at this . Now , in a Voldermort Wins Fic , unless one was to write about Character X captivity , or Harry resurrects and leads the resistance, or a fic set soon after the last battle, it's my opinion that we should kill of all named members of the Order of the Phoenix still in the open. With Harry dead , they are redundant. Let's also kill all named protagonists too . The big three goes , the Weasely family goes , Luna is a goner , you know what – let's just take Kill them all to it's logical conclusion and just write off all the canon protagonists cast . Let's keep the canon antagonist though.

Now our main protagonist is not any of the above . It's one of the numerous faceless , nameless muggleborns in Hogwarts , who we know nothing about . Certainly not a Gryfindor , but I am more comfortable writing someone of above-average intelligence here , and fairly studious , so Ravenclaw it is. It makes things easier to write. Now , how is it like for Muggle Borns during the Wizarding war? It's definitely suicidal for a Muggle Born to remain in Hogwarts for long – but many Muggle Borns no doubt know no better . But for those who remained for long , I suspect the DA took them in, and protected them if possible. But in a Voldermort Wins world , their fate is no doubt going to be brutal. At the very least , they would form an underclass (hinted at , in canon) , and no doubt some of them would be killed , tortured , enslaved and all other … unpleasantires that would merit an M rating if a fanfic wanted to explore it. I suspect it will be the young that are most at risk at falling into the second category – Voldermort has recruited no shortage of deviants . And some would resist , and many will be on the run – like Dean Thomas.

Our protgaonist falls in to the last three categories . Protected by the DA when they were forced into the Room of Requirement , on the run after the Battle of Hogwarts , joined a small resistance cell in the aftermath , and finally captured , with all it's attendant implications I don't think I need to mention. The story starts with her dying , and the time-traveler arriving. And , so , it begins . A tale of what is a Soul , Minds , time-travel , Mary Sue Hood , PTSD , beamspam and plotting.

For those who read my previous story Destiny Emissary , you could probably notice similarities with the setup of both stories . I prefer to think of it as a story running side by side with it, just another possibility. Main difference is , I'm trying to avoid a Sue in that story , and toning down the time-travelers powers . Having been stucked , and not updating it for over a year , I've decided to just let it rip , and write the setting , as I see it , less constricted by the context of canon and trying keep characters in character, and just go all out. My idea , in it's unrestrained form.

There are several inspirations behind my fiction . Firstly , JK Rowling's Harry Potter's verse in which this fiction is set, of course. The concept and technological levels of the Culture , a Sci-fi civilization in a series by Iain Banks (far higher than Star Wars or Star Trek ), as well as the way they deal with less advanced civilizations, is another . Then , there's the anime Haruhi Suzumiya , which basically is my inspiration for exploring the forbidden depths of Kingdom of Suedom . And also , the fanfic Kyon Big Damn Heroes , for it's self-proclaimed TV Tropes crossover – I will conscious try to exercise tropes deliberatley here. And finally , there's another anime , Lyrical Nanoha which inspired the concept of a State encompassing multiple time-lines , and set me thinking on how such a state might actually work , especially if it has Culture Levels of technology, or even higher. Standards disclaimers apply, suffice to say , none of these works that inspired me belong to me – I'm just drawing inspiration , or playing with it.

Is it safe for me to putup disclaimers in the intro , or should it be repeated every chapter?

Still with me ? That was quite a long intro isn't it ? I think I'll start with the story now.


	2. Timefall

Chapter 1: Timefall

The worlds came into being. More accurately , the temporal sea.

_Commencing Launch_

Thunderstorms of time on the horizon, and all around. The world was still a haze.

_Five Percent Launched. _

Orientation. The world snapped into focus, the haze of dis-orientation lifting, as the came online.

_Ten Percent Launched . First timefalls registered._

The mind was fully merged with the soul. Where were the others ?

_Fifteen percent launched. _

More minds joined in at that thought.

_Filter out the mother-ship's communications to essential only, Freques . That A.I's just being obnoxious, as usual. _

The A.I complied immediately. At last , some peace and quiet to enjoy this rare sight

The soul never got tired of seeing the soul-sight of millions of souls descending down to time-lines . Of course , this was hardly a daily affair. Those beautiful streaks of golden , silver , sapphire , emerald coloured souls that rained down like glistening jewels , cutting across the tumultulous sky above plains of space and ti-

_Waxing lyrical as always ? You get carried away to easy at this . Iyou know t's just your preferred visual representation that could always be simulated at any time, if you like_

_I know that . _The soul got more serious. _So what's the status , Afenia? _

_You can thrash half the tele-briefing packet they uploaded to your mind. Most of the targets are gone. Harry , Hermione , Ron , Ginny , Neville , Luna , etceteria. All dead, at the temporal co-ordinates where we'll be making time-fall . Voldermort has won , so you've got your hands very dirty here , no doubt. It's a hot jump. Expect to fight soon after time-fall._

Most A.I Scrying Swarm personalities were like that . designed for information processing normally developed a certain... disaffected personality. A certain degree of calousness was needed if your job was to process massive quantities of information, after all.

_Cleared for launch. _Immediately , the soul felt a sense of freefalling and vertigo , as it plunged towards the time-scape "below", like an elevator whose ropes were cut.

_Speaking of which , _the A.I added , _your preference would be a little problematic, given that Voldermort has won and all. Though it might work in your favor , if irony was your intention. _The Scrying A.I representative added. A series of images and concepts were transmitted to the Soul's main-mind, as the soul filtered out the sensation of time-fall to better focus.

_It's not like a pure-blood or half-blood is feasible in that time-line either. And muggle is too risky. And sharing a host will take too long in this situation, but then again , you have already judged that anyway. _The soul calmly responded.

_Unless you want to consider other options across the Channel? _The A.I offered.

_No , don't bother . So what do we have here exactly? _

_The name is Cecelia Winterbourne . Muggleborn, 14 Years old , female , Ravenclaw. Her birthmind posseses above-average intelligence , as well as above- average magical potential . Her body's in a rather bad shape , but quick restoration is still possible. Maximum possibility of death in around 20 minutes after time-fall. She's essentially beyond saving now, making her a viable candidate. I have dispatched one of the in my group to mantain contact with the potential host._

_And second choices within Britain? _The soul asked.

_Quite a few , but I doubt you'll need it. _The A.I performed the mental equivalent of a shrug. _And weather conditions match down there match the ones out here, by the way. _

_Alright then. Daerea ,set our spatial co-ordinates to the host location_.

Below , the swirling sea of the time-scape resolved itself into narrow strings of waves continually dividing and splitting apart , intersecting and re-uniting again. On the horizon ,the time-traveler saw there were small entaglements forming , as the first agents began affecting their targeted time-lines. The sight then blended into the horizon

The strings grew closer and closer – and then the visualization of the dimensions turned black.

There was a brief sense of falling , and of stretching. Then , there was a brief tremor, followed by stillness.

_Sight. _

The soul looked around at the surroundings of the place where it made time-fall.

The weather of the place mirrored the visualization of the temporal sea outside.

0154H , 2 May CE 1999. One of those clinche , nights that was dark , and stormy. Summer rains moved in from the North sea a few hours ago. The soul was above an apparently "empty" moor, the edge of woodland just at the very periphery of sight to the west , and the soft golden glow in the soulsights that larger population centers produced forming a very faint , narrow band at the horizon. The terrain was fairly flat , though it became more hilly further to the east, and some elevated points. Navigation identified the place as a moor in North Yorkshire, in Northern England.

A slight continious tingling sensation told the soul of the arrival of the in the time-plane. Afenia's return to the time-plane was marked with a markedly more intense sense of tingling.

_You're right above the target. _

To naked sight , there was no man-made structure anywhere in sight. Except , from the air , right below the soul , there was a patch of grass that was emitting strange Infra-red signatures.

_The target is in a structure called a manor by people of this time. It has wards to hide the manor from the naked eye of all not keyed into the wards , including Wizards. It has the standard wards in addition to that – Muggle Repulsion and Anti-Apparation , plus a few older wards that were de-activated when the Death-Eaters seized this property. The current owner of this manor is a newly elevated death-eater . Apparently , he was elevated after leading a successful attempt at eradicating a resistance cell about eight months after the battle of Hogwarts. Cecelia Winterbourne was among those captured in the operation. She has been held for four months now. Over 95% of victims will not last a month , so her position is quite an unusual combination of circumstances , and her willpower. Nevertheless , she's on her last legs. _Afenia nonchalantly remarked.

The managing the Soul and Magical-Aura sight arrived while Afenia "spoke".

Activating the Aura-sight revealed a completely different sight. Unfortunately for the manors occupants the manner of it's warding left a very distinct , and rather strong magical signature shining through the air , forming an intense glowing sphere whose center was located slightly below ground level. The A.I handling the visualization of the two Sights did not even need to calculate anomalies in the fabric of reality to generate a visual of the manor. It was even possible to tell , with the appropriate device the complete history of not only the manor , but also the history of the location it was build on for at least three millenniums. Visualizing the manor was extraordinarily easy - even the soul's birth mind could have worked it out unassisted if given thirty seconds or so . The Visualization A.I accomplished the same in mere nanoseconds.

The Visualization A.I enabled the time-traveler to see the past the wards of the manor through the Soul-sight .

_Counting thirty eight human souls , and eight fae souls._

Most of these souls , thirty seven in all were congregated in a large space within the manor called a dining hall. Apparently , there was some sort of dining feast , though thankfully , none of the entertainment that sometimes accompanied these feasts. From far away , the souls within the manor took on a more faded hue of gold . Magnified , the sight was different. Unlike the golden glow of a normal soul , thirty seven souls below the soul were marred with ugly black fracture striations , signatures of the recent exercise of soul straining and consuming dark magics. The only exception was a single soul located at a subterranean level that appeared distinctly fainter than the rest of the souls , a soul-signature that was associated with dying. Accompanying it was the silverish mist that represented an A.I The soul immediately deduced that it was the potential host, and that the A.I was one of those dispatched earlier by Afenia.

Interestingly , the last soul had a few flakes of darkness as the soul-sight focused in on her. The target soul clearly had experienced rather intense negative emotions , even hatred , recently..

_Afenia , is there enough spatial-data for us to shift straight into the location of the targeted host?_

As an impression of an affirmative came in from the A.I , the soul engaged the navigation in preparations to "Shift" right next to the potential host.

A brief explanation to readers who are unfamiliar with this term. Shifting is another form of magical teleportation devised by the Wizarding inhabitants of time-lines obeying these rules of magic. It was first invented by Muggleborns who were familiar with the principal of quantum mechanics, often during the mid to late 21st Century. Functionally , it is exactly the same as the more primitive apparation , in that it rapidly transports a person from one point to another . However, there were several major differences from classical apparation.

Firstly, you had to be very precise with your visualization while Shifting. One could apparate safely with nothing more than a vague idea of a location . Shifting with a vague concept of a location was extremely risky, especially without , since you could wind up Shifting a mile above your destination , or into the rock a mile below your destination. Therefore , someone Shifting had to have directly observed his or her destination beforehand, or at least acquire sufficient information about the place through second-hand observations , such as through a camera , or through assessing memories of another person. Secondly , Anti-Apparation wards could not block Shifting - a common maneuver was to Shift out of an Anti-Apparation ward to another unwarded location , then Apparate out. Thirdly , splinching was impossible in Shifting. Either one Shifted , or one remained where he or she was. If one was insufficiently determined , he or she would not Shift at all. Fourthly , Shifting did not suffer from the same range limitations as Apparation – and could actually be used to instantaneously move from one point on-world to another off-world , provided that one had sufficient information on the location. Theoretically , if you sent a remote probe to the Andromeda Galaxy , you could shift to the very location the probe had observed , assuming that you could transmit information back 200 million light years instantaneously too. Finally , Shifting was quiet. Very quiet. It was also very difficult to detect. You would move from one place to another, immediately. There would be no sense of transition , at all.

And so it was that the Soul Shifted to the exact location of the potential host body , with 19 minutes left.

At that very moment , the Ward Breaker A.I suites arrived from the temporal-sea , along with another "Support" A.I – specializing in magical buffs , healing and other non-damaging charms that might be useful in combat , among other things.

The soul quickly assessed and evaluated the situation. The host body was in a severely damaged condition , though a swift on-field restoration could still be accomplished. There were two options . The soul could let the body expire naturally , though that would leave it quite vulnerable while the body was rebooted back to a living state, and for some time-after. It would require the soul to rebuild a mind to interface with the body, which was time consuming , and would deprive the soul of most of it's host's memory , which could cause certain inconveniences later. . On the upside it would be synced completely. Or the soul could expedite the departure of the host's soul to the after life , and utilize the soul's mind Both options had it's pros and cons. Training and doctrine never presented not one single solution , but possibilities . The Emissaries were trained in considering possibilities.

And of course , the soul could afford to digress. The mental and social that accompanied the soul currently joined the probing A.I that was left with the target. _Agreement would be reached quite soon, they were confident of that. The were requesting a mental illusion to facilitate communications. And such callousness must only be Afenia's. _

Or , it could be the other rationality A.I speaking.

The soul decided to watch.

The gentle , warm glow dissapeared.

_Please don't go. I want to live still. _

And the world reverted back to a numb agony . Once again, all she could hear now was the ragged breathing , all she could see was darkening shadows . There was nothing but a great weariness left , like there was some comforting embrace of sleep right behind her . She was cold - she had been cold for a long time , how long , she couldn't know . She had lost track of the time long ago , she could not remember how long it had been since she was arrested by Snatchers . This cold was different though . It was some sort of chill seeping through her... being . She could barely think now . Everything was a fog . Everything was falling away .She thought she was supposed to feel angry . Maybe she did . Anger needed strength . Strength was fading.

_I still want to live. _It was almost like a mantra.

She dimly registered a presence over her , near her . Suddenly , that slow chill halted, and again , the same gentle prescene returned , first faintly , like the light of a moon , and then suddenly , intensely, like the light of the sun . And abruptly , lucidity returned . Briefly , the sense of flaying agony returned , the sense of vertigo of being suspended upside down , of a hook tearing into her being , a short , sharp burst of pain, and eyes that gazed upon a dry pool of blood illuminated by dim torches .

_I still want to live. _But she knew that she would not.

_I heard you. _The glow acompanying her spoke, returned , and then -

In less than a blink of the eye. The horrors disappeared . And she stood in some green field , with gentle clouds and a golden sun peacefully hanging over in a azure - blue - she paused mid thought . What was she doing here ? Where was this place ? And why was she thinking like that ? Perhaps it was because she felt whole again , whole like she had never felt for a very long time.

And abruptly , it all returned to her , fragments of memories , pieces of life drifting out again , emotions and events that felt every bit of her soul . Happiness , curiosity , wonder , then fear , sorrow . And then anger , a memory of screaming vengeance , then defeat , and then a sudden red wall of agony that seem to press against her that burned rawly , that almost overwhelmed her . Her life and memories seemed to flood back into her all at once. It almost overwhelmed her -

A sensation similar to a cheering charm snapped the chain holding the swirl of emotions and thoughts together . She immediately calmed down , the memories and emotions and much of the pain dulled , muted into the background.

_Breath. _She closed her eyes, complying with the silent urge, breathing deeply , gathering herself , exhaling out, clearing her mind. It was then that she was aware of the sense of someone , some presence behind her. She turned behind by instinct.

The field behind her stretched on to an infinite blue horizon. Contrasting the blue horizon , however was a golden orb that hung over the thin air , like a sphere of ball lightning. Right then , she just knew , without words , nor any form of communication , what the orb was . The knowledge just appeared in her mind. And she knew what to expect then .

The orb spoke. Not out-loud , but into her mind. It was a voice in her head , but she knew that it originated from the orb.

_Cecelia Winterbourne. Perhaps you prefer a more corporal form. _

The orb blinked out of existence , and in it's place was a ermine sitting on a silvery round dias hovering in the air , at the level of her chest. No , it was neither an orb nor ermine. Both were mere conveniences , projections of something that was not corporeal . A soul. The eyes of the ermine looked into her ,and she knew right then , without a need for any explanation what that soul was , what it came for. And her fate . Despair briefly took hold of her emotions , but it faded away just as swiftly as it came.

She blinked for a moment . Was all of this true , or just something that popped out from the depths of a tortured sub-consciousness. She had to ask -

"Who are you?"

" I see . You would prefer verbal verification. Very well then . I am a time-traveler from the future , sent as an emissary to your time-line , for the purpose of establishing contact with your time-line , and influencing it so as to prepare it for the larger multi-universal community at large. Your time-line is at a stage where the risk that humanity will destroy itself eventually is exceedingly high. Therefore , I have been dispatched to prevent the apocalypse of your time-line. " The ermine paused. " And if , I was to tell you all of this without inserting these ideas into your mind , you would struggle to comprehend. While there are politer ways of telling you all of this , we are very short of time here , unfortunately. "

There was a part of Cecelia , a more rational part of her brain that suggested that this was just the illusion of an oxygen starved , dying brain . Some kind of hallucination brought out by dying .

The ermine laughed, before she could decide what to say in response. " Of course , it's an hallucination of sorts , a dream . But it's one created by me , and not from your mind . You are correct . You are dying Cecelia , and in my current state , I can do nothing for you but to make your death as comfortable as possible. "

" Why ? Why are you here then ? " She asked. _It does not make sense . What would a time-traveler want from a dying girl? It's like aliens establishing first contacts with a dying prisoner in a concentration camp._

" You wish to live don't you ? You have wishes , and I can accomplish this." The ermine responded. " I can do something about this , but I need something from you in return to accomplish this for you. "

Her response was immediate ." If I am dying , and there's nothing you can do about it , then what good is this? " She softly asked. And she knew what the answer was , even as the ermine responded.

" Precisely. " The ermine nodded. " Every person consist of three parts . The physical body , the mind that controls the body , the soul that controls the mind. When you die , your soul shall leave your body , and your mind will wither away , and your body will decay. I have a proposal. As a disembodied soul , I need to acquire a body . When you die , I shall take control and , once embodied , restore this body. Your soul is yours to keep , for you peacefully go on in death . As it is , with the amount of regrets you are carrying , I don't think your soul can go peacefully , don't you?"

" You mean that I would become a ghost? Stuck in between life and death forever?" She guessed.

" Yes , most likely. Though not forever . A very long time. This current war has created quite a number of them. " She heard a sigh within her mind . "

A simple question " , the ermine continued. " Why do you wish to live? What do you wish for ? In exchange for your body , I will accomplish these wishes. "

" You know that already , though , don't you ? It's not necessary is it?"

" Say it , then . Say it , so that you mean it. " The ermine responded.

_There is intent , then there is deliberate intent. What do you really want in exchange?_

She closed her eyes . For a brief moment , she felt like crying , before that impulse faded to the background. She had to say this calmly , carefully.

" I want to live. I want to live because I have wishes. " She shuddered , paused for a moment , collecting herself again . " I want Pure-blood prejudice throughout the world destroyed , and Muggleborn discrimination ended forever. " The next part were tinged with ugly , repulsive emotions . But she wanted this still. " I want all the Death Eaters slain. I want their families to be stripped of all their power. I want all my captors and torturers dead , and to experience what I went through themselves. I want justice for my friends , those who have died , those who still live . Most of all , I want Voldermort dead , and his followers crushed , his ideas defeated completely." She breathed out. This was the hardest of all to say . " And finally , I want to die. Not to remain like a shadow. I've seen the ghost of Hogwarts . I've read of ghosts . I have no desire to share the fate of the Moaning Mytrle. " There was no use pretending otherwise , or ignoring reality.

" All these can be easily done. " The ermine nodded. " If I have a body. For the price for the use of your body after your death, it will all be done . My very existence depends on it , and so mote be it. If you accept , that is. " Blue arcs emanated from the ermine , swirling around the ermine like magnetic fields from a planet , ending back in the ermine, before all the arcs vanished into a single point within the ermine , and winked out of existence.

She gasped. " That's a magical oath . Almost no ones does this. "

" No one. Are you convinced now ?"

She considered quickly. " If this was an illusion , then it does not matter what I say . And if it's not an illusion , then -"

" Do you have any reason not to accept then?" The ermine asked.

She gave a slight nervous chuckle. " This is really surreal . " She muttered . "Yes." She nodded in agreement. " But-"

" Then there's an additional offer I can make . You still wish to live , do you not? There is a way to still live , after a fashion. "The ermine interrupted.

" But if my soul is dead -"

" I can save your mind , at least. " The ermine replied " Remember , a person is body , mind and soul. If you are willing , I will maintain your mind in this body. " The ermine raised a paw , while she attempted to speak "No – listen to me first , for time is short. I will be honest with you . Without your agreement , I would let your mind fade away upon the death of your soul. The dead do not leave with their minds. But there are ways to keep minds alive even after the soul is gone – so long as the body is repaired in time , and another soul resides in the body. If you are willing , I can preserve your mind. But it would mean that your mind will be under the control of my soul. I will preserve it as long as your mind wishes. If it wants release , I will release it . "

Her thoughts raced along . Should she ? Should she not. She realized something right then. Narrowing her eyes , she asked " This is all about the mind isn't it ? That what you also want. Not just my body , but also my mind."

" All I need is your body , to take a direct hand in this time-line. But if I have your minds' willing co-operation , things would be much smoother and faster. I can put an end to this so called Dark-Lord that threatens this world much faster , and save thousands . " The ermine calmly explained. " Again , I give you my oath . So mote be it. " And again , the blue lights swirled and flashed.

She briefly digested this. " I have no objections then . " She replied in a small voice. " But I have questions. "

" And I have no time to answer them to your satisfaction , alas. But we'll make the time later , between your mind , and my soul . "

" Alright then. So... " a slight pause. " What happens now?"

" Your body will die in five more minutes , or so . Or , we could simply initiate this contact right now. "

" And my soul goes on?" She sighed wistfully. " How does it feel like ? What lies beyond?" Her voice whispered.

" Like falling asleep. But no-one knows really what lies beyond death – save for the fact that death is not the end , but a beginning of something else altogether. I have never died , so I cannot tell you for certain , save that there is something beyond death. " The ermine replied.

" Are you still afraid?" A gentle voice asked.

" No , begin . But not here . "

" Back?"

" I do not want to die in an illusion. " A different , smaller voice replied.

" As you wish."

And then , the stabbing pain ,and the sense of vertigo , and above all , the sense of weariness, and the sensation of falling asleep .

Everything faded away, as her consciousness ceased.

Right over her , the soul sight revealed a gentle ethereal silvery mist emerging out of the body , dispersing for a while , and then suddenly flowing back in to a single point just outside the body , and disappearing into the point.

The silver mist ceased . The chest of the battered body ceased it's continuous movement expanding out and contracting back in .

And golden flows of motes of light infused the body , like a brief golden aura, before fading right inside. Behind the soul , came the multi-hued trails of the soul's , as they embedded themselves into the soul , and into the recesses of the brain. Then , the colorful trails ceased.

And the body once again , after a few seconds pause begun breathing once again , as the heart and lung was restored to perfection , and quickly thereafter, the mind. The rebuilding of a shattered body begun.

She awoke. Or rather , her mind awoke.

It was a sensation akin to a light being switched on , yet her eyes was not yet open . It was a sense of awareness , though it felt slightly different . Foreign at the very least.

-Restoration complete . Internal Bleeding module , commenced. A quiet , neutral female voice intoned at the back of her head . An A.I , one which specialized in healing . It was currently using her magical core ,and some ambient magics to restore damage done to her body. And she was aware of the numbness around her . The A.I healer had anaesthetized her entire body.

She opened her eyes , and saw the ceiling . Above her , there was a strange rectangular plate , metal that looked like it was abruptly severed. Memories came rushing back - of knives , hooks , wands and worst . She looked through them like they were memories of another life . No , it was like looking through the memories of someone else . By rights , she was supposed to suffer a severe case of post-traumatic disorder. It was almost as if that was hand waved away . No , it was merely surpressed for now . There was no time to recover– a process that was lengthly, only to mute and bury it's existence.

Right then , she knew that wounds closed , bruised capillaries once again were restored , and every scratch and scar on her skin faded away like it never had been . Her body was being methodically restored , even beyond it's original shape . Teeth knocked out was restored , then straightened and whitened to flawless perfection. All the awkward physical features of her adolescence were resolved . Traces of acne that had begun appearing on her 14 year old face vanished. Not really 14 though . The soul was much older than that . How much older , she (as in her mind) did not know yet.

The process continue . The sense of touch was restored , and once more , she could feel the bricks of the dungeon on her back . She really wished it was smooth . And right then , a portion of the brick floor was wandlessly transfigured into flawless marble. It felt so natural , so right , so proper , so utterly easy. She wondered why wandless magic was such a difficult feat for her time .

Her hair regrew from it's previously devastated roots , sweeping out , and fanning out on the ground in an extremely lustrous and silky smooth hair . Bad hair days was now impossible. Then , eyes were sharpened , and sight was enhanced , and the world suddenly seemed much sharper , much more real . She could now see the subtle hairline cracks on the roof above her , the rough texture of hewn stones . She knew right then , if she so wished , she could see radio and gamma rays , for receptors this sensitive now existed within her eyes . At will , she could now see the full spectrum of electro-magnetic radiation , or indeed any range of electro-magnetic wavelength . And then , there was a cascade of knowledge pouring into her brain . Understanding , even information of things that were still unknown at this time flooded her mind . Of genetics , molecular science , of relativity , and yes , of the electro-magnetic force . Understanding of all branches of magic , all laws , and magical principals yet undefined by modern magical thinkers. And yes , of runes , of the principals and rules governing it's power , of why it even worked , and of all scripts yet devised in this time-line , and scripts not yet devised and of scripts not native to even time-lines related to this . Even of systems of magic not native to this , or related time-lines , from completely different worlds . The last , was where the control of the soul she now belonged to was felt the strongest.

She sprung up to her feet , taking stock of the sharpness of the world around her , while revelling in and getting accustomed to the knowledge that newly laid in her head . And then awareness intruded rudely on this , with the sensation of embarrassment . She remembered that she was unclothed . It had to be rectified . Her new found abilities and knowledge should make the permanent conjuration of clothes an extremely trivial task. In fact , it could be much more than that . A memory of an out fit , of an armour , for the lack of a better word surfaced . She knew that this mind never saw it before , but yet , she also knew it . There was a vivid sense of familiarity , like Deja Vu, almost , only much more intense . It was hers .

She began conjuring it . No , more accurately , summoning . It was located above , as a concept in a plane that , for the lack of a better word in the English Language could be called Hyperspace. Not that her original self was that much into Science Fiction , but "she" was an avid reader in life after all . Now that made her sound something like an undead . Somehow , some kind of will was preventing her from fully grasping the implications of that . Somekind of blissful awareness.

She returned her attention to the task at hand . A cloak of light shrouded her body , the summoning momentarialy frozen by the brief mental detour. And the process continuted . A layer of some ultra-flexible fibre unknown to modern material science emerged from the light , taking the form of a sleveless bodysuit . She could sense the molecules aligning to perfection , then the atoms , the electons and protons , the quarks ... all to even below Planck length Even the most intelligent of minds at the fore front of modern Science could only barely begin to grasp the principals behind these materials. Let alone the brightest and most knowledgable magical researches . Right there and then , she realized a faint presence of someone else ... or several someones within her , directing the process , and then and there , she "knew" that no unassisted , natural born human mind could have perform even this feat.

Next came the feet and hands . Delicate threads seem to spin out from her magical core . Right then and there , she became aware of the connections and conduits of raw magic flowing through ever fibre of her body . And the threads intertwined themselves within , spreading through all four limbs . She could feel something strenghtening , reinforcing these conduits , improving it's conducitivty , focusing the magics through her . A sense of immense power filled her. It was like the feeling of waving around the first wand that her chosen her , only much more intense , much more vivid , much more ... real.

The conduits then took phyiscal form , manifesting itself as gloves taking shape , starting from her palms . A circle emerged from her palm , a circle that felt like an orb . A circle manifesting itself as a slight buldge , a violet orb like shape . A circle that in reality was a 11 dimension shape . It felt unfamiliar or perhaps more accurately , disconcerting. And then , solid threads spreaded down her fingers , spreading down her fingers , to form a ebony glove that felt like a gentle breeze flowing through her fingers . Then the gloves spreaded down , to form light purple Sleeves that stopped short of the shoulder , leaving a small gap. It was a deliberate stylistic design , there was no reason why it couldn't have spreaded down to reach the shoulder .

And the conduits spreaded down through her legs at the same time, reaching her feet , and forming a low heeled shoe of sorts . The heel was the first to form , then the soles . Runes were carved throughout the soles , layers upon layers of which . The sole was made out of more layers of another unknown material , and on each pico-meter scale layer were set after set of runes. Not even a Rune Master of today would have a chance of comprehending more than a mere fraction of the runes, let alone someone with a half years worth of formal rune instruction in her third year (before the DA took her under their protection. Infact , many of them operated on principals that were utterly alien to the magics of this world. Then the sole was done , and the runes faded away like they were never carved. And then , the upper portions rapidly snaked upwards . A continious layer covered her feet , from toes to the bottom of her ankle , ornately carved and forming silver intricate ridges, forming a purple black coloured shoe. Underneath , Purple-black stocking formed up from her toes , spreading all the way up her feet till it reached several inches short of just slightly above the knee.

Then came the outer clothings . Motes danced , and a royal purple coloured shirt emerged , with a symetrical design of silver markings . Then , a glossy smooth silver mantle of glimmering light silver colour appeared around her , draped across her shoulders , fusing with the shirt . She decided not to think of the details of the process anymore .

At the same time , her lower body was clothed in a short royal purple colour skort , the skirt ending at mid thigh and the shorts extending all the way down to just a few inches above the stockings. Silver markings broke up the continious royal purple colour she was clad in .

She briefly felt a suggestion for her hair to be bounded into a twin-tail , which she quickly rejected . She half expected to be compelled , but the "will" seemed to have dropped the issue .

As the light faded , she realized that the entire summoning had taken place is less than a tenth of a second. She was now in an outfit that was more resistant to magic than dragonhide by at least a magnitude of ten thousand . The appearance belied it's true dimensions . Every corner of her physical self was now shielded. But there was one thing missing though . She had now been made aware that there were numerous alternatives to wands in existence . The gloves was one example . However , it was wands that this mind was used to wielding magics through . Besides , it was inadvisable to show off non-native magical systems infront of hostile witnesses , especially in a body that was not yet fully synchronized. The hostiles above , a small assembly of snatchers and death eaters led by a member of the so called "inner circle" would make a perfect trial run .

Well , there was vengance , and the promise too to consider. Many of her torturers were currently corousing above , unaware of the emerging threat below. To this mind anyway . To the will , the soul animating this body , it was nothing more than a test run . Such seemingly schizophernic thinking would have been bizzare to any mind used to being the only mind under it's owner soul's control.

She became aware that her feet was moving towards the door . And right then , a wand was in her hand . A wand that felt very right , very familiar . A conjured wand that matched her old wand exactly , with a few touches that made it felt even more precise , yet more powerful . Still it was the same feeling.

Conjuring wands was supposed to be almost impossible by today's magics , to say nothing of conjuring a wand that properly fitted a wizard or witch . This was a feat of conjuration that clearly proved that the soul in her body came from a more advanced civilization , if not future – if the wand worked. She gave it a test .

She was just about to use an unlocking charm when suddenly , she realized she could see the door glowing with delicate strings around it . Fainter auras laid behind it .Knowledge again came into her , and she realized she was seeing wards around the door. Alarm spells and traps laid below , and a Colloportus charm sealed the door . She felt some sense of movement at the back of her head , as the minds attached to her moved to disable the wards . Some magic flowed out and the door suddenly ceased glowing , and the faint auras behind it also fell silent . The door now looked exactly like it should be. Or perhaps not . The anti-rust charms failed at that instance, and the door became rusty and pitted .

It was now safe for her to cast a spell.

_Think of a spell . Don't say it out-loud . Break the door . _A voice quietly murmured in her head. It was like she was thinking to herself.

She complied . _Reducto._ She silently thought in her head . She felt magic swiftly leaping of her core , amplified and flowing through well tuned conduits , all the way down her arms into her hands , and into the wand . The door crumbled into a layer of fine dust that settled down slowly . _No Incantations . _ She felt an urge to suddenly simply will the dust away. The passage instantly cleared, the dust vanished. She blinked. She had neither thought of a spell nor used a wand .

_Incantations and Wands are two sides of the same coin. _It felt like the most natural of things to say , a maxim that seemed utterly true , even if it was at odds with her memories . In fact , her memories , though riddled with numerous gaps now felt like they were memories of another instead. The inclination or will the puruse that line of thought was not there .

She was aware that her feet were taking her far beyond the dungeon she had originally awoke in , past flights of stairs , past locked doors which she casually unlocked. She could sense that there were people nearby . She could sense the presence of 45 other people throughout the manor. All of them were attending some sort of feast. Thankfully , there were no "living" entertainment present that day , besides this body anyway . That would have caused unwelcome complications.

All of the guest were present within the dining hall . Good. Silencing everyone would be much more easier now , especially since her body was not fully synchronized yet. She adjusted her sights further , to take into account non-humans . There were a complement of 8 house-elves in the entire manor. Of course . The owner was from a rather old pure-blood lineage , though much improvished in the last century , as were many of his peers. She knew from the memories of the host that the manor was a gift from the so called Dark Lord , Riddle , as were the house elves..Unsurprisingly , her host knew very little about them. They had to be neutralized somehow, since they represented an additional complication, and had a high chance of escaping.

In many ways , House-elves were one of the major inspirations , and the psyche the template of many of the early . Of course , those days were long gone, ever since the soul-binding of became common place, and far more sophisticated , and far more autonomous were permitted. Though Subverting their loyalty and memories did not require much power, it required a certain level of magical dexterity and control that this mind was not capable of performing . Thankfully , a few of her scouting whose presence in the time-line was adequately "stable" had sufficient capabilities to pull this off. A switch was needed , and unfortunately , her latest mind had no mastery of mind-scapes , and therefore ….

She blacked out for a moment .

She opened her eyes again, aware that some time had passed, and that her wand arm, her left arm was loosely holding a Minutes , to be precise , according to some internal clock within her. The banquet above would end soon. She had to hurry . The timing though , was perfect . It would be an electrifying ending to the feast. No , those thoughts were not her's . There was no time to think about this .

She took a quick look around. Her location seems to have changed in those twelve minutes. She was now standing in an atrium . Behind her were flights of winding staircases , designed in baroque style , leading both up and down. The room she was in could best be described as a dome , with well maintained and appointed golden chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. The floor was marbled tiled , with the shattered , recently defaced giant sigil of a jade coloured serpent emblazoned upon the floor. A deliberate provocation, and act of vandalism.

There was a wand held loosely by her right hand , her non wand hand. Sprawled at the far right corner of the atrium was a young man , 28 years old to be precise. Dead , lying in a pool of still flowing blood , from multiple stab wounds. It was as if several invisible knifes had cut straight across his body, several times over , slitting the wrist , the throat , the abdomen , puncturing both lungs , and breaching the heart. The name of the spell came to her – Sectumspempra ,in quick fire mode, what ever that was. It was exactly what is said on the tin.

The thing that mildly surprised her was that the spell was not from the future. It was a spell that existed , though knowledge of it was rare. And with that thought , it was like some floodgate opened in her mind . It was like suddenly understanding some lesson or topic , from her days as a school girl , only much more intense . It was at the moment she realized that she had knowledge of an immense arsenal of spells , from the past , the present , and the near future. It was more knowledge about magic than any human could conceivably learn , by natural means , within a single life-time. And at the next moment , she was aware of the boundaries of her knowledge. It staggered her to realize that this much knowledge was only but a small fraction of what the soul knew. She shrugged that aside.

Right behind the door was a feast about to end. Over 40 wizards were behind that door. It would have been suicidal confrontation mere hours ago , for her. It was now a suicidal proposition – for them , that is. A confidence from beyond her mind wiped out any doubts , before they could even be formed. Any half-formed doubts , or hesitations were just simply swept away. They did not exist. It was like a Cheering Charm was done on her, only with slightly different effects. Irregardless , she was ready , she felt ready , and that was all there was to it. She didn't have all day.

With that , she aimed at the door , and fired her first salvo.

A/N : A long introduction . I hope I haven't lost readers yet . The next chapter would be an action scene. Yes , I could have started in medias res, but I think it would be too ... inelegant.

A/N2 : I was quite dissatisfied with my initial chapter , so I rewrote the first half.


	3. First Engagement : Trial Run

**Chapter 2 : First Engagement: Sync Run**

A/N : I made a few deliberate Shoutouts in the previous chapter .

The great door instantly disintegrated into a cloud of dust and splinters as a massive Reducto blew it open. But Cecelia was not through yet. Even before the dust had cleared , the twelve largest splinters were levitated up in the air with a silent Wingardium Leviosa, at the precise moment each splinter was 90 degrees parallel to the floor. Simultaneously, a modified Homenum Revelio located the precise co-ordinates of each person in the room , and "tagged" them. And then , almost by instinct , she fired not one , but twelve Knockback Jinx (almost instantaneously turning from blue to purple) at the hovering splinters at angles that would sent them flying at the speed of nearly 1600 kilometers per hour towards targets behind the door. By the time the dust settled , she saw 18 bodies torn in midsection , with the remnants of the splinters impaling the other ends of the hall.

The remaining guests stared , in stunned horror, including the one at the head of the table . He was deliberately spared from the initial salvo.

She casually strolled through the settling dustcloud, taking in the disbelieving looks of some around the table , and the utter bewilderment of those who did not recognized her . No major Inner-circle death-eaters were present – her jailors had mostly consisted of various newly elevated Death-Eaters or Snatchers . A shame . It would have expedited this affair faster.

Eliasson at the head of the table , Stanely , the German mercenary Kunze , Danielson furthest from the front. The memories of her host squirmed quietly at these names with faint rememberance , and seethed with the anger of surpressed grudges. A shame that the fifth person involved in her imprisonment , Patel , was not present at this feast . A quick, silent probe into the memories of the guests revealed that he was away on another mission for the Snatchers . No matter , he would eventually turn up on the dragnets she would soon cast. Then , there were a few others involved in her capture . Every single person she was in the hands off within past few months would eventually die in one manner or another. It was agreed , and a virtual certainty (perfect certainty was never guranteed). And of course , there was Eliassons patron , Dolohov to consider . In other possibilities ( and indeed , it was a very real possibility) , this body might have been given over to Dolohov's definition of fun . Needless to say , she would be in a different host body then .

Eliasson – newly raised as a Death Eater , one of scores marked soon after Voldermort's victory at the Battle of Hogwarts. Stanely too was given the mark , Kunze was an unmarked contract hit-wizard , and Danielson was still a Snatcher. So much for his false boast of being marked .

Eliasson was a pure-blood , one of the numerous more improvished lineages . Something quite common in Wizarding Britain of this era – to the point of cliche . And a classical believer in the strictures of blood-purity , as was common to someone of his socio-economic strata. Incidentally , the former owner was an aging, widowed , childless blood-traitor , who had been executed the previous year, in the proscriptions launched against blood-traitors.

The room was beginning to recover from the shock , and the guests drew their wands , one by one . Five Wands . Ten wands . Fifteen Wands . Twenty Five Wands. Twenty Five Wizards in all. Nineteen Wizards laid dead . One wizard , had already left the premises.

_Spatial Seal_ . She quietly whispered under her breath. Of course , that was how she mentally perceived it – an outsider would be likely unable to translate what she had just said. She could feel her magic being subtly channeled , controlled from some source , some place in her soul , but outside her mind. Another mind , an A.I was sealing this place in a bubble , a pocket dimension impregnable to the magics of today, by manipulating the wards of the manor.

Shoulders in a relax position , she wandlessly spun the wand above her hand , assuming a rather bored expression.

" Well , good evening , Master Eliasson . It's been two days since I last saw you . " It had been indeed – and one of the freshest in a series of painful , repressed memories. " I once plead , and you taunted me . What could I do to you ? A mere , subhuman , on par with the least house-elf , the lowest magical creature , one whose mere existence is an abomination, the dirtiest blood. Now -"

Eliasson collected himself , and forced a thin smile on his face, interrupting her" This might be an impressive piece of spellwork here , but clearly , you are outnumbered here . You will not leave this room alive." His face took the same twisted grin that her host vividly remembered , and associated with agony. It was all a front of course. There was shock still reverberating through his mind , and fear heavily suppressed.

" Attack . Make her beg , scream , drown in her tears. Make her pay for disrupting this gathering ." Empty bravado , as he would soon learn .

Waves of Crucio , Bone Breakers , Flesh Searing spells , various minor uncomfortable hexes , and even a Levi Corupus converged on her .

Her bored face immediately when on the alert , and a smile appeared on her lips . The wands of those she had killed in her first assualt were instantly summoned around her , at various distances away , like planets orbiting the Sun of Magic that was her . The next instance , 19 shields of various types were layered around her , each emitting from one of the wands

It was the Crucio that was the most dangerous of all , of course . Most of the others could be easily dealt with with an efficient Portego , or other conventional Shield Charms known and available to that time

The biggest problem , was the Crucio. Thankfully , there were several counters , though the oldest of which would only be invented around 15 years down this time-line. She decided to test the limits of the synchronization , and went for the most flashiest and complex option available to her mental database . As a precaution , she prepared another counter to the Crucio , a much simpler one . At worst , she could simply momentarily deactivate the mind at the moment of impact.

The spell she was attempting was called Spatial Distortion . This spell was an attempt to replicate the curvature of space-time caused by gravity. However , it could bend the fabric of space-time in a manner not even the most bizarre gravitational fields could manage. It was a spell that did not require so much as power – even this unstreamlined magic core could manage such a spell with no more difficulty than Apparation , or Conjuraton spells . The trick laid in controlling magic. The spell required control way beyond the means of any unaided human. Such a spell was only conceivable once were widespread , and the brainpower available to each soul reached magnitudes comparable to the Horse Power of Sport Cars from this era.

She could sense some kind of union with the presence that hovered at the edge of her consciousness . It was at that point she was fully aware that that presence was not a single entity – it was several . No time to contemplate such a revelation though . Apparent time slowed down in her consciousness , as she saw a few score of spells impact her shimmering but transparent shields.

First came the faster charm and hexes , and then the slower curses . She realized she could see more than the light of the spells. She could see the glow of each spell , the vast array of colors each spell registered on her Spell-Sight . She could see the faint glow of each wizard, and the lines of magic that flowed through them . She could see how raw magic warped around the edge of the wands , as these primitives crudely arranged their spells together in an almost unthinking fashion , in ways they were barely aware of, nor fully comprehended .

Each spell flashed and flared along their trajectory ,their multicolored lights flashing for a moment against each impacted shield. Some penetrated through, the breaches they made in the shields producing bright sparks momentarily , before closing up , only to meet another shield behind it. The magics were converted one by one into gentle mist of harmless , ambient magics, slowly fading away into the higher plane of existence they came from . But out of the mist came several dark jets with tiny speckles of angry orange light sparking through them continuing unbroken from it's wand of origin , coming straight at her . Shield after shield buckled , visibly bending inwards before each Crucio broke through . Five shields left . Three shields . Two.

And then , something extraordinary happened. The moment the second shield was impacted, the spell seemed to bend around , diverting from it's previously straight course . It struck , and kept moving without any loss of speed. But each nanometer meant it moved a degree clockwise. 180 Nanometers into the shield , it was now exactly pointing back at the original caster. At that very point , the shield abruptly disappeared – and the spell was released – straight back at it's original caster.

Then time hurried up again . The five spells sailed straight through towards the Wizards who fired them . She could briefly see a blot of blackish orange suddenly surrounding the victims like some aura , than collapsing straight into their nervous systems . Screams suddenly pierced the air . They always did for some reason . Such was the price of an Unaugmented mind.

" I remembered" She leapt into the air , and swiftly closed the distance between herself and Eliasson. " Not too long ago , you dared me. " Her wands followed her , maintaining the protective barriers , various spells bouncing off her shields or being rendered into nothingness.

She landed right behind him , with a grace , plucked out the replica of the wand her host once wielded , and in a switf motion , held the wand at the neck of her quarry. " You taunted me . What could I do to you , you asked , you dared , you sneered. " She could sense all bravado shattering , a sense of resuming bewilderment that was swiftly overwhelmed bt fear.

" Obviously , it reply was physically impossible . Of course , you would have forgotten such a trivial question . " She sensed that the spell-fire in the room ceased , as her foes hesitated . It was fear that stayed the hands of all . A Snatcher who fired upon a death-eater was a condemned man , and a Death-Eater who spilled the life of one of his fellows needed justification . They were weighing their options , assessing the risks . But within seconds , the firing would resume .

It was enough . She probed the mind of her hostage , easily swept aside it's meager crude defenses . And she could hear his thoughts , previously a gentle murmur of emotions and impressions , now much more vividly felt.

He saw time around him slowing down . The motions of his guests slowing down by a factor of twenty. He could feel the blunt , warm edge of the wand at his neck . Who was this mudblood dying in the basement ? It was not the broken girl at his mercy days earlier , no mere hours ago . This was impossible . It had to be someone , someone from the Inner Circle . Polyjuice potion.

He heard a chuckle . But it did not seem to come from behind him , or in fact , from any direction whatsoever. It came from everywhere , and no where .

" There was a girl who once asked for mercy . She broke down , begged , threatened , as cliche as it sounds . What could you do ? You asked . What could you do against me ? Might makes right. Well , after having days to consider it , I happen now to have an answer." She sounded amused . He had a sinking feeling.

" Those who live by the sword , die by the sword . I shall demonstrate a fitting analogy for your ideology of blood purity. Tell me , do you know the composition of blood? No ? Of course not , Wizards do not undergo a Muggle Education. But blood is made out of blood cells suspended in a liquid called plasma. Now plasma , is an interesting liquid . It's more than nine-tenths water, but with certain impurities. Ironically , the remaining one-tenths are most made out of … substances that share the same... element , as blood. So , what is really Pure-blood literally ? Blood cells suspended in pure water , purge of all impurities. " She gave him a brief moment to consider this , before continuing.

" Now , do you know what happens if your blood is completely... pure? Well , let's just say that it's hard to live when all your cells in your body explode. And your death would be most unpleasant . Nevertheless , you would get the honor of this experience ." He felt a small chill in his neck, like something plunging into him . A wand passed through his skin , right over into a capillary on his neck .

" Purifying your blood is easy . Two spells can combined to achieve such an effect, with a little delicate manipulation of magic . Evanesco , and Aguamenti . And it's done. "

He felt the wand being withdrawned , and then the weight of the edge of the wand being lifted out from his neck . The next instance , time reverted back to normal . And then , he began feeling extreme Nausea , doubling over and making retching sounds as the urge to attempt vomiting became to overwhelming to exist . When that passed , he felt like his tongue grew thick and heavy. And drained and weak and tired. So very exhausted. He toppled over from his bending position , down to the floor . His muscles began to scream , the world began to spin , weird lights formed around his mind , the room began fading , and then his head felt like something was swelling , like a balloon , swelling , swelling , swelling - Pop.

Cecelia watched as the now unconscious body when into severe and violent , almost limb breaking contusions . The remaining targets stood there , wands held at ready . But Paralyzed by a mixture of horror and morbid fascination , as Eliasson experienced the effects of Water Poisoning infront of their eyes . She had to admit though , she lied a little . In that few seconds , she had added in a third spell that amplified seizures . His limbs began jerking , twisting , writhing , his eyes rolling back to the head , bulding , his brains swelling . And then , the walls of the heart disintegrated as pure water caused the rupturing of the heart walls . His heart imploded from within , while his brains rapidly died as cell after cell suffered lysis . Twenty seconds after the show began , Eliasson body finally stilled , as his life ceased to exist. Her souls-sight detected a tiny flash as his soul went beyond.

All wands at ready , she coolly walked over his now motionless corpse.

" Well , would anyone like to volunteer to be next?"

On her face was a terrifying smile .

In the region between the soul and the mind , a conversation begun . The soul's leading and most realized minds began to truly awaken , to reaquire their sentience , thought and personality. Enough that conversations between themselves could begin.

_Host mind is beginning to demonstrate psychological instability. Perhaps you should redouble the filters?_

She squashed one of her foes with two solid transparent walls of frozen nitrogen . At the very same moment , she set up some of her shields to reflect some of the spell-fire that was resuming. The ricocheting spells turned against their casters . She laughed as the limbs of her foes snapped to Bonebreakers , or their organs burned out , or they collapsed in a pool of rapidly collating blood from a dozen deep wounds. All the while , she began remembering the indignities conducted on her , and basked in the sweet , sweet revenge.

_The sync though is performing well , redoubling the filters at this stage poses risk. The body is bending to the will of the soul , rather quickly. We can move on to the next stage. soon_

Dodging a hail storm of counter spell-fire , she set the first attacker immediately in front of her on fire , the second besides him internal bleeding on all organs , and the third a massive kinetic curse that sent him flying through the wall . All were done simultaneously . Three spells at once, while she maintained a dozen more shields protecting her from an unrelenting rain of curses.

_A little too excessive , won't you think ? You could rein that mind in , but sync would be compromised._

A Snatcher dodged a conjured sword . Then two , four , eight came his way , and the sword he just dodged swung round . There was a twisted delight in her face , as the nine swords surrounded , and impaled the Snatcher from nine different directions.

_Dead is dead , irregardless. If sync is compromised , more deaths would occur , in manners just as horrific. _

The next victim was knocked back by a hail of Paralysis spells that quickly overwhelmed his own shields , and counter-spells. Then , as the Wizard laid there , frozen on the ground , his wand hovered over him . Then his wand snapped. Into two . Into four . Into eight . Faster and faster were it remnants divided , and within 15 seconds , his wands were reduced to nothing more than thousands of fragments. Fragments that were transfigured into tiny diamond triangular blades before the horrified wide open eyes of the prey. His body was quickly shredded by the rain of these extremely sharp triangles. She felt some dark sense of exultation as that occurred.

_Perhaps memory re-adjustment and suppression is needed? _

Tears , of both grief and exaltation filled her face as they fell one by one , incapacitated , knocked out , or , for those she judged the least to blame , given the mercy of a quick death.

Another newly promoted death-eater ,slouched against a bloody wall, bearing the wounds of multiple slicing curse desperately attempted to activate his Dark Mark. No signal could penetrate the space she had created . And then , a single slicing curse severed the arm right in the middle of the Dark mark . The molecular arrangements of the nails on the severed appendage turned to diamond. He was sliced open from his front , from his hips upwards , through his abdomen , across his sternum . He drowned in the pool of his blood.

_Well , I gave my word. I would let the mind experience the consequences and ramifications of what it's original soul wanted, but we shall see what this mind decides at the end of this. _

One of the dying was set stretched spread-eagle upwards ,as bloody runes were crafted across the skin . She was surrounded by the blood and gore of the dead and dying . Bloodstains and spell-damage covered the wall , there a heap of limbless flesh at the end of scorch marks that indicated the last desperate burst of hexes before death came , there charred carbon, men burnt till they vaporized.

_Lift the mental barriers . All immediate threats have been neutralized, so it's a good time as any other to resolve the psychological burdens of the newest mind to join our family, and see her decision. _

Runes were carved in blood on a dying Snatcher hung spread-eagle , and upside down . Each rune corresponded to a symbol of pain , each rune striking with the force of ten Crucio's at once . The mind of the Snatcher had already shattered , his previous screams reduced to nothing more than empty , hollow moans. And then , Cecelia truly awoke . It was then , as if some kind of fog was lifted , that her mind was truly unbinded , and enabled to appreciate what was going on . Her hand halted , in the middle of inscribing another rune to abuse the nervous system of her dying victim. What was she doing , mutilating , torturing , maiming , breaking the mind of the person infront of her . As much as she thought that these beast deserved to die like the next muggle-born suffering under the persecutions , the sense of horror at what she was doing overwhelmed the dying outrage that drove her to these actions.

She gasp , her eyes wide open , backing away , further away from the suspended body infront of her . Then , her magics let go of the victim , who crashed right headfirst into the floor , the impact breaking his neck and putting him out of his misery.

She remembered now . Every spell , every feeling that coursed through her mind as she wrecked the carnage around her . That unholy sense of glee . Was that her , really ? There was something in her that was extremely disgusted by what she did. She backed away , further and further away .

_So , she has made her choice . Good , she is not as obsessed with vengeance , though the mental scars of her slow murder has compromised psychological stability significantly. _

And screamed. She surrounded herself in a bubble of air , and then filled the entire room with high concentrations of Carbon Monoxide. Within her bubble of air , the chemical composition remaining constant . She crumpled down into a fetal position .

She could now recall everything , the impact of the succession of memories coming in one on top of another. The mindless glee at which her enemies died . The flood of knowledge , the depth of which was almost too overwhelming to contemplate. The disorientating sensation of the soul being separated from the mind. The feeling of dying slowly in a crumbling , failing body , in almost complete darkness. Then the tortures and indignities inflicted upon her . She remembered the sense of smallness , of nothingness , of worthlessness . She remembered the wounds inflicted on her flesh , the whippings , the carving of runes on her flesh with a glowing hot wand , the starvation , the water torture . Worse was the repeated rapes and penetrations , the utter sense of humiliation. The despair of being captured , the outrage and anger , and desire for justice , no , for vengeance , friends falling , family dying , and before that , like some cruel mockery of what was lost , innocent , naive , memories. It was all too much for her.

_Air Restoration Commenced. _A barely noticed voice at the back of her mind whispered . The composition of air within the room reverted back to normal , and one of the minds assisting her in her spell-work soon undid the modified descendant of the bubble head charm. The barriers surrounding and isolating the hall were allowed to crumble away. There was no one alive in the room but her . Nothing but scorch marks , blast wounds , pools of blood , shattered wands , and dead fluids. The high powered wards , drained and exhausted , faded completely away. Only mild , less energetic vestigal wards remained , like Muggle Repulsing charms .

But she noticed none of this , The mind did not notice any of this . She did not notice as her magic was quietly , subtly requisitioned by the multiple presence of other "personalities" at the edge of her consciousness . She was outwardly crying , weeping , breaking down as everyone of the scars lodged in her memory came home to roost , all at once . At the same time , the apparated out of the manor , to a nearby moor fifty kilometers away.

She was now in a relatively empty grassland , with woods in the direction where she had came from. There , on the grass , beneath the a dark sky with only the faintest hint of the impeding dawn on the horizon , in a fetal position , oblivious to the world , she wept , as all the emotions that she circumstances or deliberate contrivance had prevented her from expressing came in all at once , overwhelming the whole mind , erasing thought , and replacing it with only emotions .

The tears , after several minutes , finally ceased , as she simply stared out, blankly , exhausted , empty.

_Can the dreaming sanctum be made flesh , before we continue? _Within the mind , the soul seating at the chair queried. Numbers , data , symbols , results and a stream of consciousness between the minds and the soul all took place within a second , as the answer to the question wa found. The soul had sufficiently synced with the body .

A quiet voice sounded out that reached all the way up to the frozen mind. _Sanctuary achievable . Commencing weaving. _

In the moor several dozen kilometers from the manor , a small object was willed into be , a sphere momentarily flashed into existence , consuming the host body, and the body simply vanished to an artificial space, anchored to reality by a tiny , microscopic nano-meter size sphere . The first nanomachine conjured permanently into existence ever since the soul entered the time-line. Within was a lucid dream made flesh.

A/N: To be honest , I would be rather critical with the way I handled the breakdown . Somehow , I think there's a lot of improvement , so I'll welcome at criticisms on its' flaw. And yes , I know that I probably need a beta. And yes , this chapter is the reason why this is rated M.

A/N2: Of course , these are not speaking in English. Or at least , not modern English.


	4. The Morning of Exposition I: Soul & Mind

**Chapter 3 : The Morning of Exposition I: Of Souls and Minds**

She was fading , falling through some black , featureless abyss. She wanted to fall in , deeper and deeper . Above her , was flashes , flickers of memories too painful to look at ,too painful to be among . There , every detail of those memories were made sharper than ever , was made very real, almost unbearably so. She relieved everything , and was glad to leave it.

Then , suddenly , right below her was the faint glow of a light . It sung of warmth , it sung of a gentle melody of joy , of dawn , of some place better . And the storm of images faded away , becoming a thinner , and thinner , less distinct pinprick in the abyss. And she was then embraced in that light .

That light suffused into her , penetrating every atom , every fibre , every neuron , every thought , like the embrace of the heated room after leaving a winter storm, like the one last year.

The feeling was difficult to put in words , at least in words her native language possessed. It was like a comfort , like a cup of hot chocolate , like soothing words after the tears. It was like being out on a gentle beautiful day , or feeling content , and calm , and at peace.

It was a warm afternoon , a cool evening , a beautiful , optimistic dawn . The closest experience was like her habit during her first year , where she went to the top of the battlements of Hogwarts , to watch the sun gradually rise over the horizon. Or perhaps an early morning flight in her second year , fifty feet above the highest tower of Hogwarts , in pre-dawn . She loved seeing the sun rise , and the sun set , there was something symmetrical about that. And in there , that feeling , she lost track of the time.

She felt a peace . It was the kind of peace one felt after the tears had stopped , when a warm embrace or gentle soothing words of a loved one was besides you . And somehow , she didn't feel much pain at that . It was fading away . Was it really that painful? Was it better to feel pain here? She could remember , alongside that long histories and long experiences that was not her own , something deep , vast , infinitely more profound than herself, and somehow , she felt better. Her loved once , her close friends, well , that of the previous soul . She appreciated them all , but was mourning them going to resolve their loss ?

But what about her soul . What did it mean to be a mind without a soul , belonging to another soul ? And just one of many minds . She realized now that those presence , those soft voices at the back of her consciousness were other minds. But not all minds were alike , were they? Some minds were not true persons , some were full persons . Which was she ? And what did it mean to be one mind among many others ? She right there and then felt insignificant , small , tiny , like some intruder , despite the calm , warm light surrounding her.

_Not really . _The light around her rippled in waves. If she could jump here , she might have jumped for a moment . Then she recognized that voice . She had just heard it , back in that manor , in that dream . Strange , it now seems like a distant memory , like it happened to someone else that was not her . It was the light . Something was happening in the light .

A rather troubling thought occurred to her. Was her mind being tampered?

_Well , do therapist tamper with minds then? Besides, it was not just your body that was grievously wounded here . This mind itself was in a rather bad way too . _

Well , if she was to tamper with someone's mind , she might make it so that the person with tampered with would be unable to feel uneasy about it , she supposed. But she did feel uncomfortable with it .

_At least you are willing to talk . That one problem when you take a fully realized mind previously attached to another soul. There's always to identity problem , you see. _

A problem with identity? Well , she supposed so .

She suddenly realized she was no longer falling . The same bright warmness still surrounded her though , but she felt something gentle flowing over her , tickling her senses .

_It means , wake up . _She could sense the joviality in the voice. And her surroundings no longer rippled around her .

She didn't feel like sleeping any more . In fact , she felt wide awake, more lucid than she had been for many months. Only difference was , she didn't know the meaning of the word lucidity then .

She opened her eyes to see the rays of gentle sunlight , and a soft breeze pouring through the open window . She was in a room painted egg blue , sleeping on a bed . It was her bed , she recognized . It was her room , as she recalled it , she realized with a start , down to the last ornamentation, and petal of artificial flower at her bedside , to the calender on the table that looked exactly the same on the last day of the last summer holiday, nearly two years ago.

There was two things out of place though. Firstly , she could now , see , after sitting up , she was most definitely not in Ashton Place , not in an urban area , and , not in England . More like of the French Rivera in late Spring. And secondly , there was an ermine , the same ermine seating on the windowstill , looking out into the scenry beyond.

It spoke again . " You're awake. "

" I don't think it's possible for the vocal cords of an ermine to speak English. " She dryly remarked. " How long would this dream last this time, anyway?"

" As long as you want . Though I daresay it's far less of an illusion then a few nights ago. This illusion has a physical presence in base reality , and is accessible , if you have the appropriate … key." Unspoken explanations appeared onto her mind almost before she could begin to try to decipher what that creature was saying.

" A few nights ? Which date is it really , outside then ? And I take it that you don't use keys any more in the future?" She replied.

" One . Yes . Two , the morning of 2nd May , 0753H , Terran time. Though you have been asleep for a week in here – time compression is in effect here. Three. Well , some places do. It has fallen out of fashion in my time-line though." The ermine turned around, looking at her. Once again , explanations the unfamilliar terms silently appeared in her mind. Time Compression. Time inside was longer than time outside. An hour in here was seven outside. " My apologies , I forgot that the social norms of this time prefer eye contact , if possible. And , I know you would have numerous questions . While I could download into this mind , as much as it is safe to do so , I think you would prefer a more personal conversation , won't you?"

" Well , yes , I mean who won't?"She asked , puzzled.

" Millenniums of phone call , online chats , telepathic data transfers , A.I clouds, Akashic Querying , and so on produces a rather different culture . Face to face conversation is heading to obsolesce , eventually. " He countered. " But , enough of that . You have quite a few questions . How about this deal: One question at a time. "

" Deal." She shrugged. It was reasonable after all.

"Follow me out then . Unless you want to talk in bed ?" The ermine leapt down from the table , landed gracefully and walked out through the door she did not realize had existed until then .

She threw over her covers , and slid out of bed , following the Ermine out. But before going , she decided to try something. With a quick wave of her hand , the bed remade itself – wandless magic was feeling extremely natural now, it seemed. Satisfied , she walked out . It was then she realized that she was no longer wearing the attire she had a few nights ago . Instead , she was clad in a orchard blue , simple summer dress that extended down to the knees, straps of medium width going over her shoulder . The material felt smoother than silk . But , hey , time-travelers were expected to be much more advanced in Material Sciences , and if they were magical , almost certainly conjuration. She shivered briefly as she recalled Eliasson having the whole contents of his blood plasma converted to pure water, as she crossed the threshold.

What was beyond her door was most definitely not the hallway down to the dining room. No , beyond was a single rectangular pool several meters wide , filled with water shimmering with the reflections of the rays of the sun , and of the piercing pure blue sky above it. Around it were marble walkways , covered by a translucent roof where the sky could still be seen through , while offering ample shade from the rising , morning sun. And further beyond was a covered balcony of sorts , looking at out at the scenery below.

It was then she realized that the whole place was constructed on a higher ground , and the balcony was perched on the edge of a ledge overlooking a white sandy beach before it , and a sparkling azure blue ocean beyond. The balcony was facing west , she deduced , since the sun itself was on the landward side.

" Actually" , the Ermine remarked , as he scampered across the walkway – and into the pool . " The planet this is based on rotates in the opposite direction." She gaped as the Ermine did not sink into the water , as expected , but simply casually walked on it's surface. " Here the sun rises in the west , and sets in the east . Which means that the balcony faces east . " Cecelia went down to the side of the rectangular pool , and dipped her fingers in the confirm that the pool was filled with a liquid. Her fingers encountered only cool , flowing liquid , all the way down as she stuck her entire right hand into the pool.

" How- did you do that?" She asked, standing back up. " Did you change your body-density with a Featherweight charm, is this an anti-gravity charm not yet invented , or something else altogether?"

The ermine laughed as he continued strolling across the pool " Something else altogether . Something , very different , though those two methods are viable. I do not have to resort to such methods though , since the... data of this entire space (for the lack of a better word) is completely under my control. Allow me to demonstrate . With a thought-I could change the weather ." - the skies overhead immediately became grey and overcast , and a strong breeze came in from the balcony.

" The environment ." - the whole building around her vanished , except for the pool , replaced by a lush green plain stretching to the horizon, under a starry night sky.

"The size" - the pool itself vanished and the vast expanse became a single rectangular room consisting of four walls with no doors , a low ceiling and a plain carpet floor. The scene changed again , and , she found herself in a vast hall with an impossibly high dome over head ,

"The surroundings and ambiance" - the hall was lit by some gentle homely orange light that suffused the surroundings. Tiers rose around the hall , and multiple orchestras appeared on each tier. Instrumental music filled the hall , playing an orchestral piece she could not recognized , accompanied with an Ethereal choir seemingly coming from everywhere at once.

" As you can see , every variable in this place is modifiable – like the Room of Requirement in Hogwarts , though that room is a rather primitive version. " The initial scene reappeared , and the Ermine was now perched ontop of a transparent , crystalline circular table on the balcony.

She stood there , stunned.

" Well , come on then. Join me on the balcony. Think of yourself being on the balcony. Try it out." A vivid image of her occupying the space in front the table , reclining on an airy , soft rocking chair entered her mind. For a moment , a mental sensation very much like the sensation that accompanied making a decision appeared in her mind. It was a familiar sensation – it was the same mental feeling that came with "requiring" something within the room of Requirement back in Hogwarts. And , for the briefest of instance , she felt as if she had momentarily caught a glimpse of an some infinitely more profound , barely comprehensible higher reality. The next moment , she found herself in exactly the same position she envisioned herself in . Reclining on her favorite chair.

She sank into the chair for a brief while , imitating the same process that her mind was undergoing simultaneously. After half a minute , she straightened up , the world coming back into focus once again , her Ravenclaw shaped curiousity following suit.

"Ok... " she slowly stared. " Tell me more about this place then . It's like a Room of Requirement , and a dream at the same time, complete with some kind of field manipulating time inside? So where is our body currently?"

"Right in here. "

"I don't understand."

"Alright , we are currently in a bubble of reality of sorts. Your body is within the bubble , and that bubble is present in normal reality , physically represented by a single sphere , no larger in radius than the width of your hair. Smaller infact. It's a similar concept to magical trunks , or undetectable extending charms - which you have read about in the Room of Requirement. Now , imagine that that a variant of an undetectable extending charm is applied to an extremely small , virtually indestructible sphere (nothing short of a nuke could threaten the integrity of that object). Imagine that this container is empowered , in very much the same way as the Room of Requirement to allow the intents of those present within to become reality. Now , imagine a much more advanced version of this , where controlling the space within the container is made much more simplified , and make it such that every conceivable aspect of reality within this container is modifiable , even time and space within it, and even the laws of physics that govern this place. Even the laws of magic , which differ from time-line to time-line. Protein molecules and Gold atoms can be conjured in violation of the laws of transfiguration. Tricky by your standards , since some unknown entity has placed a barrier of sorts on doing so.

The Ermine smiled. How could ermines smile anyway?

"And that , is a crude and rather rough explanation of this place. Technical details of course , have currently been transferred , or "uploaded" into your memories. You may pursue them , if you dare." She took one peak at the new memory that just appeared in her mind , and hurriedly looked away , shuddering internally. She decided that she did not need to no more – this place was more or less a spatially charmed room of lucid dreaming, and it was sufficient to leave at that.

" Another question . " She hesitated , the question lodged in her tounge. This was more personal , and something that had bugged her since those mental controls were lifted off her.

" Ask away."The Ermine said . She had the distinct impression that the Ermine was waving his hands .

She hesitated for a moment . Should she ask about the matter? About the relationship between her mind , and the nature of the ermine in front of her ? There was a fear at the back of her mind that she was better off not knowing , that remaining in blissful ignorance was best . There was another side of her though , that would not , could not let it rest . Her curiosity was insatiable.

She sighed, " What happen then ? Last night , in... there." She deliberately left it hanging , lest those memories re awoke.

" I made , for the lack of a better word in this language , landfall in your time-line or , more precisely time-fall. You , of course , understand by now where I come from- "

" I prefer to here it in words. " She whispered.

" Of course , of course . But back to your original question. When I arrived , your body was on the edge of death . Internal bleeding , shock , and that's just scratching the iceberg . Therefore , my soul made direct contact with your original soul, disembodied. You see , there are five general directions in time-travel , which you know . To simplify things , because many of our time-travelers need to go travel in multiple directions at once and with each direction time-traveling becomes more difficult , the most efficient rallying point to time-travel in huge volumes lies outside the Space-time continuum. Due to the risk and expenses of time-traveling in our corporeal bodies using this method at the frontier , we have no choice but to send in our agents disembodied. My original body is actually currently held in spatial-temporal stasis quite a distance from this time-line. Now , usually , we find willing hosts , pro-active idealists mostly to hold our souls within. However, augmenting and syncing a body so that the body "aligns" with the soul (keep in mind that this is a very approximate term) takes time when two souls share the same body, especially if the second soul is unwilling to augment . Then , there are multiple complications. That is the first method . It's time consuming though, and usually used for safe time-lines , where we can take our time in establishing ourselves here, and there's minimal risk that our agents would be exposed to direct combat. There are some exceptions of course , to this rule. " The Ermine explained.

"The second possibility is that the Soul launched into your time-line goes dormant for a period of time , usually a few weeks or a few month, though it can be swift too , depending on the time-travelers , until a body can be generated within the time-line. However , it requires the the soul to alter reality without a body. It's not easy , and there's a need to ensure that your soul is sufficiently present in the time-line before attempting this. It's an unpopular method – not all time-travelers can do this , and of those who can do this , very few can swiftly do this dis-embodied. I can hold out for that long , but it greatly complicates this mission , and many more will die. " the Ermine continued.

" Then , finally , and this is usually used in time-lines where its assessed that the risk of entering direct combat soon after time-fall is high , and where acquiring a body is an urgent necessity, there is the method of approaching a body on the verge of dying. There , we usually secure the agreement of the dying soul , and expedite their release from their damaged bodies. At the very instant the soul leaves the body , the other soul occupies the body , and restore it. Which was what I did. We usually do it this way , since a body that has suffered brain death is unusable , and unwilling souls poses complications and makes this procedure less effective – a resisting mind delays sync. And that's before we count in morality , which we time-travelers need to abide by. Ethic committees still exist, and we at the frontier are mostly chosen for a certain level of morality. Sociopath and Psychopaths need not apply." the Ermine concluded.

Cecelia remained silent again for a minute , processing , and coming to grips with what was just said.

"Then , I'm … dead , and this mind is -" she said in a small voice. No . No , the implications were not good at all. It took all the courage she had to continue. But wait . Was the courage hers? The Ermine's voice disrupted her

" Not dead , simply reattached to another soul. You see , minds are bound to souls. Even if a soul is dead , minds still can exist . They can exist disembodied – that's what a ghost is , actually . A disembodied mind anchored with an imprint , a remnant of the soul. The soul actually still goes beyond , mind you , though in a very convoluted , round about way. But I digress. Your mind , is now part of my soul. You knew this of course , when you made the offer." the Ermine responded.

"Why? Do you need it?" She asked.

" Why yourself , why then , why do I keep your mind? You know the answer to that. Your mind is a collection of memories , and certain habits and personality clustered and condensed into Neurons. The soul is the will driving the body. Together , they form the consciousness . Take out the mind , and the soul is a prisoner , stripped of all it's senses. Take out the soul , and the mind is a prisoner, frozen in time. I could completely wipe your mind , but then , I would need to replace with another mind of my own . There are numerous issues with that – firstly , if someone knew you in live , it'll be awkward without your mind. Secondly , having a native mind makes fitting in much easier. Finally , let's face it - do you really want to be erased?" The ermine replied .

" But I didn't know I would be one of many. " She quietly answered.

" We are the same entity , if that's what you mean . No A.I fully sync regards himself as separate from the soul it is sync to. It's difficult to explain – there are no relationships between different intelligences that serve as an appropriate "

" A hive mind , then . That's what you are. That's what " She paused for a moment ,gathering courage to complete the conclusion, "...what I am part of now."" She had a troubled look on her face.

" Each human , in my time consist of clusters of bound and sync with souls. It has been so for longer the language we are speaking now has existed , for my time-line. "

She wrestled with the concept internally. Hiveminds . Was there anything intrinsically wrong with it ? So far , it was just voices in her head – was every thought and memory of hers open to all? What about her – her individuality -her identity -gone . The rational side of her coldly argued that it did not matter . Without this , she would be gone , mind , soul , everything . With this , even existing for a little longer was sweeter than dying in the gutters.

" I see." Her voice grew firmer.

" If it's any comfort , your mind will still be distinct – but our purpose will be the same . Our will will be the same . But you are still a distinct "person" , all the same, even if you are part of a larger whole. If it makes you feel better , not all are created equal. Only a handful have personalities."

" Because there's a limit right? How many persons can a single soul handle. How many minds?" She asked , a certain trepidation in her voice , and on her face .

_Clearly , the girl thinks she's going to be deleted one day. It must be traumatic to learn that you are essentially now a file that can be dumped into the recycle bin. _

" You'll be surprised. The answer differs . I know my limit extends up to the thousands . You need to be able to handle a certain number of with distinct personalities and self-actualization to be deployed in the frontiers. So , you don't have to worry about me deleting you away. It would not happen – or rather , even if it does happen , for reasons of instability , your personality , and most of your memories can be salvaged . And that's what really makes a distinct person , doesn't it? Usually , it is all there is to a soul too, in your time." The Ermine adopted a conciliatory tone.

She remained silent again. The ermine waited , patiently .Several agonizing minutes followed. Outside , a gentle breeze picked up and gull like cries echoed amongst the terrain. Introspection passed , a decision was made. That decision did not sit well with her. It was a rational choice , so why did it accompanied by this strange sense melancholy? She gave a sigh. There was no use yearning for what could not be. _The soul is worth more than the world indeed. _

" Alright then . Thank you." She softly said. "For …. letting this person continue existing. "Her voice choked a little. "I'll do it then . " Her voice again grew firmer , as she brought her emotions under control But you would have to explain your intentions first."

A/N: More shout outs were made at this chapter.

A/N2 : I love orchestral music , so that bit can be chalked up to author appeal.

A/N3 : This chapter was initially meant to be much longer , but I've decided to split it into two.

A/N4 : I don't regard the A.I -Human Soul relationship as squicky as it sounds. Think of it for a moment , of our massive reliance on machinery , and technology of all sorts , from which ever device we are currently using to read this , to our almost total reliance on conveniences like handphones. In any case , the binding of in this story is rooted on the risk (often realized in many time-lines) of A.I rebellions.

A/N5: I've compressed my explanation for time-traveling. I have defined the 5 directions , but I chose not to expound on it at this stage.


	5. The Strategic Picture

Chapter 4: The strategic picture 

"My intentions? It has already been communicated with you . Are you not convinced? Then perhaps I will approach this at a different angle. " The ermine made a tiny gesture with his left paw,

High over the pool , a single glowing dot appeared . It stood alone , on a pinnacle , small strands of glowing lines flowed down , merging with one another at some point lower down . On the same plane , more dots joined together , once again the peaks of stands of light emerging with one another , all stretching downwards , merging with one another. As one went down closer , and closer to the pool , one could see that all lines merged together , and collapsed into a single point. The lights formed an inverted pyramid. But there was one noticeable anomaly. Somewhere in the middle of the pyramid were a series of planes where the number of glowing lines were obviously sparser than the preceding plane , violating the expected trend.

" As you were told , I am an agent of a state that stretches across not just space , but also time. We consist of innumerable worlds , alternate realities , and parallel time-lines , uniting together under a single government. The closest word to describe this state is a federation, one born out of diplomacy , necessity , and war. This projection is a greatly simplified snapshot of how our parallel time-lines relate to one another , at the core of our state, each line as you might have gathered , representing a time-line." The Ermine made another small gesture.

From some imperceptibly small point near the top most layer of the anomaly , a golden bordered cube blew up, consuming all the previous lights within the cube , and replacing them with a steadily expanding new image, until the first projection was replaced by the new.

At the very bottom of the cube , line after glowing line had their glow snuffed out as one went further up the cube , reverting into cold , grey , lifeless lines , like faded lightbulbs. Up , and further up , all that could be seen was a rapidly growing number of lifeless time-lines , and even the few surviving time-lines seemed to lose some of their glow. By the time the lines reached the edge of the anomaly, there were only a pitful left alive , small clusters of faded light , amidst the ruins of barely glowing or even burned out time-lines. It was this point where upon the number of glowing lines once again began to multiply. Yet , even at the top most layer of the projection , only a small minority of the top most layer were filled with lited lines . All around , was darkness.

"These lines are only as bright as the number of sentient , living souls residing on them. As you can see , the vast majority of these time-lines grew dark. This represents the extinction , or decimation of the sentient species residing in this time-line. " The Ermine gave Cecelia an intense stare.

" Do you understand what this means? Statistically speaking , do you know how many time-lines at the level of your development are in danger of destroying all their inhabitants on this planet , or even yourself? Do you understand now what I am implying?" The Ermine's normally calm voice almost took on a frantic air.

" Do you make the same sales pitch to everyone? That humanity is on the verge of destroying itself?" She asked. She was convinced , and could easily guess where this was going, but she still wanted to press on.

" Nukes . Climate Altering without the means to reverse it. Biological warfare. And that's just a small sample of what could destroy the inhabitants of time-lines at this level. That's not counting the risk that a time-line might be caught up in some inter-dimension or inter-temporal war between time-lines that have survived through this and has just mastered time-travel , though this is a non factor at this point of the frontier. " The Ermine gave a sigh. " Think of our activities as a humanitarian mission of sorts . Can we sit idly by while civilizations burn themselves , one by one? Let me tell you something. When the Core time-lines began time-traveling , one thing that strucked these pioneers were the sheer number of time-lines filled with devastated , ruined worlds . Nuked Earts. Iced Earts . Poisoned Earths. You name it. That is why our state , ever since it's founding has devoted enormous resources to averting such catastrophes among younger time-lines." She could sense the grimness coming from the Ermine.

It continued. "It get's worse. Your time-line has an additional risk factor – you have a Muggle-Magic distinction , and you have an entity with sufficient influence in time bent on a course of action that would ultimately result in a war that will end your civilization. We don't really need to subjugate your time-line. There are numerous time-lines , empty and devoid of Sentient Life that we can colonize. We can move into dead time-lines , and populate it if we need Lebensraum. Furthermore , the future always generates more time-lines continually. "

" There's a second reason isn't there? Wars between time-lines . It has happened before , hasn't it?" She asked , sharply. " Preemption. Weakened and eliminate the possibility of hostile time-lines , before they can emerge. But how is it done? Every decision creates an alternate world?"

The Ermine replied: " That too , is another practical reason. The truth is , not all worlds are just as real. Time-travel , beyond some very short scale variants is only possible in worlds of certain realities. Intervene in a time-line , and the odds of a parallel universe existing where this civilization would eventually reach a point where it might survive to reach the technological level for time-travel becomes too low for travel to be initiated from their time-line. It's a cold , but rational truth , is it not ? But altruism also plays a part , and the probability that this Dark Lord will destroy humanity in all realities is extremely high at this stage. High enough that all time-lines branching off from this time-line before intervention will never achieve the level of reality needed to pose a threat to us. This mission , is purely altruistic. "

" I suppose I have no choice then." She sighed again . " But so long as your intentions towards this time-line is not hostile , I won't resist? " She gave a small smile. "Besides, how many more people would have to live through what I go through , if I resist?" The Ermine allowed her to contemplate for a while.

"Alright then . How bad is it really? What would happen if He-who-must-not-be-named-"

" Really , you are frightened of Voldermort ? The Taboo does not penetrate in this space. In fact , I could exploit the fact to destroy it right now , but I have plans for it. " The Ermine interjected.

She took a deep breath for a moment , collecting herself , driving back the instinct of the past few years. " Alright , Voldermort then. How likely is it that this maniac would cause the apocalypse and wipe the sorry asses of humanity out of existence?"

" There's an 89% chance that humanity would be wiped in his attempt to take over the world . We will not be at this stage yet – we won't be for at least two years , if not more. There's a 10.9% chance that humanity will be thrown back to the Stone-age. There's a 0.09% chance that the Muggles will win , but it would be ugly , and incredibly damaging whatever the case. And there's a 1 in a thousand chance that Voldermort would win , but I can assure you , the odds of humanity ever reaching the level for actual time-travel is much , much lower than that. And that's the prognosis. It's bad , I'm not going to lie to you , but actually , most time-lines in this sector face similar odds. " The Ermine said.

" Even in the worlds where Harry Potter won the Battle of Hogwarts , the danger is still not passed. The ultimate underlying , and biggest existential problem , up and down this whole sector is the fact that a small minority of your population have magic , and the rest , don't. That's a very , very dangerous thing – as if you don't have the threat of climate change , nuclear war , bio-warfare , grey goo or many others potential apocalypse to worry about either."

If this was said to her a year ago , she might have stared in incomprehension. Somehow , she understood every word he was saying with perfect clarity , as if it was an inanely trivial conversation.

She let out a breath." So , one word. The situation for my time-line is bad. Very , very bad. What are we going to do about it? That's what you came here for , right?" For the first time , her face clearly displayed her curiosity , even if her voice maintained an outward semblance of calm.

" The immediate threat is Voldermort. After that … suffice to say , the next stage would have to be won with more subtlety. Let's settle with taking out Voldermort first , shall we?" The Ermine asked.

" And your later plans?" She pressed.

"After we eliminate Voldermort. By then , the would have gathered sufficient information for the next stage." The Ermine shifted a little , and sat on a chair that suddenly appeared.

" You want to know why you are chosen, don't you?" The ermine quietly asked.

" Well , at random? " She paused in thought . " No , it cannot be , can it?

" What is magic?" The ermine asked .

She simply stood there , stunned for a moment, before recovering. " It's basically will . You wish for something to happen , and the laws of nature naturally bend for it to be done. Or , in other words , magic is magic , and to enquire further is perilous. " She gave a cynical shrug. " I never accepted that . Such explanations might as well not be explanations. There's much more than that . I suspected in the past , but now , I know. "

" You are naturally curious, questioning , knowledge-seeking. Very much traits typical of a "Ravenclaw" ,of course . And muggle born Ravenclaws are normally among the most dissatisfied wizards and witches of Britain. It has been the case for almost a century. Unfortunately , your laws , your culture and your economic structure; shall we say , the hard nose facts of reality means that such dissatisfaction fails to bear much fruits , in the end. " The Ermine paused. " You are a very tiny minority , and minority severely diminished in this time-line. A curious minority raised in a culture of inquiry , with unique minds. And your mind is fascinatingly unique. That's the first." The ermine raised three claws , and lowered one.

" The second is the power of your magical core. You are of above average magical ability. Not powerful in the league of the late Dumbledore,of course , but still adequately so. With the proper utilization and magical power channeled through your body at the highest possible levels of efficiency , this body of yours can bear power unsurpassed among any Wizard or Witch currently alive in this world. Of course, a genetically modified human body could easily channel far more magic , but that option is alas close." The ermine lowered the second claw.

" And finally , I heard your cries. You asked for something out there to save you. And it listened , and came. " The ermine lowered the last claw. " You know , you can back out of our arrangement if you want. But you wouldn't , will you?"

She shook her head. " No . But if everything you say and hint at is true , then in truth , you are still as dependent on my corporation so long as my mind is around , correct? And as long as you uphold your end of the bargain , I will upheld my end. Quid Pro Quo . "

" Your third year . You were a bookworm at heart. " The ermine gave a mildly amuse snort accompanied with a short chuckle. " And I will explain now how I would uphold this bargain. To be honest , I would have done most of what you've asked in any case , since removing these obstacles are a necessity. So -" The ermine extended a paw out into the thin air , over the rectangular reflecting pool.

Lights emerged into the thin air , rapidly bending and forming words.

_Objectives . _The top most word read.

She looked down , rapidly taking in what was below.

_Wishes_

Separated by a line space were five other written lines of words.

_Decimate_

_Eliminate_

_Rally_

_Kingpin_

_Reconstruction_

" The estimate that this is what you would label these plans. Of course , you could surprise me . " The ermine commented.

"Decimate . The question is , who are we decimating here? Voldermort's power is based on two things fundamental to him. His own power , first , by which he rules , and his ideology , by which he attracts his supporters. You wish him , and his acolytes destruction , but that alone would not suffice to eliminate this vile ideology from the shores of your nation. Indeed , Pure-blood supremacy is seeped very strongly into the ethos and mindset of magical British culture , unfortunately. It would require a complete rewriting of British magical culture , for this to happen. Unfortunately , Voldermort's actions , especially over the past year have now rendered it nearly impossible for such changes to be wrought peacefully , even if he was eliminated completely tight this very instance."

" But why? Surely if Voldermort was eliminated the first time round , his death-eaters would once again scatter and the liberated ministry could once again round up and return these scumbags to Az-" The ermine raised a single paw upwards , a silent command for her to stop.

" Unlike the first war , Voldermort has successfully acquired control of the ministry , and has now re-organized the ministry in such a manner that even should he be defeated tomorrow ,somehow , the ministry is in no way capable of accomplishing what you have outlined. The death eaters will not scatter this time round. They have been too entrenched in the ministry structure , and even without the leader , a civil-war is now most probable scenario. There is no alternative power structure waiting in a wings to exploit the potential death of Voldermort to restore the status quo antebellum . With his obsession with Harry Potter and the Elder wand finally out of the way , he has been free to turn his undivided attention into ensuring that . Additionally, should he be eliminated , doubtlessly there would be significant groups seeking and initiating protocols and measures he has put in place over the past year to ensure his prompt resurrection. " The ermine explained.

" If there was an opportunity to avoid massive amounts of bloodshed , the window of opportunity for doing so has now closed. But let me put this question on a personal level. I will warn you of something that you might have already suspected. Or perhaps you would like to tell me yourself?"

She froze for a moment. Conversing with someone who apparently had full ascess to her thoughts was a most surreal situation. Taking a deep breath and calming down her chain of thoughts , she replied: " You're trying to say that this would be extremely bloody . I guess that you are proposing that we butcher a substantial amount of magical Britain to cleanse the pure-blood ideology. "

" Were you prepared to do so when you make the wish? Was that not what you had in mind?  
>" The ermine simply asked. " Or did you have in mind a peaceful program of social reform and legislation, an opinion more in line with the liberal leanings of your parents?"<p>

Once again , the conversation lapsed into silence . Cecelia closed her eyes for a moment , her right palm resting against her temples . If she was to be honest with herself , the answer was yes . She did envision a fire and brimstone ending for all those prejudiced bigots. But , right here , the mindset of Cecelia the desperate fugitive and Cecelia the idealistic girl were both present.

_But moral objections aside , even rationally speaking , this is an outright total war . And once such a war results , blood must be spilled before a peace can be enforced. They have enforced a Carthaginian peace on us _, she realized , right then . _Why then , should I hold back ? Nothing less than the same level of response would be enough to end this . _

" There's no other way , is there? " She quietly asked , like a thought that slipped out as a whisper.

" A certain level of blood needs to be spilled. " The ermine bluntly responded

" How much?" She asked.

" Up to every last one of Voldermort's supporters , and allies, and sympathizers"

Seen in that relief , it sounded much more rational. But what about those forced into the service of He who must not be named against their will, then?

They are few though , and the potential victims are many. And so , this debate ended up at this . The needs of a few against that of many. She never thought she would ever had to confront this theoretical philosophical question her father had once asked her during the last summer of innocence. Well , she supposed she should chose many , and see whether she could tolerate this. Besides , she knew (just knew of course) that the soul currently residing in her body favored the many. Right then , she thought she saw something beyond this – something. No , she could not ascribe a feeling to this. Strange. Move on.

With that , she finally spoke , in a level tone "So , would I be wrong that the purpose of the first plan is to repeat the first massacre , several times over ? But how do you propose to coral so many Snatchers , and Death Eaters into one place?"

" You are indeed correct. The first phase , _**Decimate**__ , _is to eliminate as much of the rank and file amongst Voldermorts supporters as feasible , without collateral casualties within the rest of the Wizarding populace. It is therefore fortunate that Voldermort himself has provided the means for us to draw as many Snatchers and Death Eaters into an ambush as possible . It is called , as you are well aware from your time within the resistance , the Taboo." The ermine explained.

" So , you are proposing I stay in one spot , keep saying you-know-whos name again and again , and keep drawing Snatchers into the battlefield ? Wouldn't the Death-Eaters soon realize what is going on , and summon him? Besides , can we now take on , say , a hundred snatchers or death eaters at once?" She voiced out a series of objections that rapidly came to her mind. "Can it be done? Battling these many at once? Or perhaps they would catch on eventually , and begin ignoring these Taboos once they catch on to what we are trying to accomplish."

" They will not realize that soon. Most likely , only once a certain level of casualties have been inflicted , and even then , it would take time for them to come up with an appropriate response. We have a window of opportunity of approximately 7 days then. You see , the main advantage of the Taboo is that it gives us the ability to dictate the battle-field , to chose when to engage at will. We can simply move from moor to moor , and forest to forest , and invoke the Taboo at various locations , sporadically over the first few days. The more we exercise magic , the more we sync. The more we sync , the more our capability for battle, and the more our power. Once we have synched sufficiently , we can then take the plunge , and in a single day , invoke the Taboo frequently at points throughout England , luring as many Snatchers into battle. In fact , once our synch reaches a certain... level , we can engage Voldermort with a high probability of success. " An improbable smirk formed itself on the ermine's face.

" And after that ? What then?" She asked , curious to hear more.

" I have deployed my , and other means to keep track of every major player among Voldermorts supporters . Drones , you may call them. Too small to be detected , or even targeted by spells. By engaging the Snatchers in battle , we should be able to acquire sufficient memories that would yield information on the locations , and security protocools among all major Death-Eaters , and other ministry aligned supporters of Voldermort. Like Umbitch – yes I know , that was what you called them." The ermine said , as Cecelia gave a brief smile at that .

" Then , we shall eliminate them one by one . By this point of time , my soul should be significantly synchronized with your body and mind , for us to summon up full into coherent and physical forms, allowing us to strike at multiple targets simultaneously. We call this phase _**Eliminate**__. . _This phase will take up a few months at least. Running concurrently will be two phases in succession . _**Rally **_and _**Kingpin. **_The purpose of rally is to re-organize , and rebuild a potential structure that will be ready to stand in , and retake control of the ministry . In the longer term , it would also bring selected targets into our cause. "

"Selected targets. You mean political puppets , agents , and the such? I assume you wish to put a Ministry which you can control behind the scenes , in place of Voldermort, then?" She sharply asked. " Besides , who would you propose , and who would accept, if they know?"

" Not completely true. But , let's get this straight. Without a base of support , or people sympathetic to this cause in , official contact between the larger multi-verse and this time-line is impossible. We will need leaders , and other proxies to aid us in bringing your civilization to a level where she is ready for contact with the larger multi-verse. Voluntary , willing leaders , who understand the necessity of what they do. Proxies , since any overtly direct intervention from external time-lines tend to create significant dissension within native time-lines. "

Cecelia interrupted: " And they would forge a better world , one without poverty or want . One with freedom and peace and the sanctity of human rights. A world united , where the artificial divisions of humanity disappear , and neither race nor heritage matters. Only , one without demo-"

The ermine interrupted " There will be democracy . Of a more advanced , and even more representative sorts . Only instead of choices between mediocrities , with the occasionally titan , your civilization will chose between truly deserving leaders. Men and women of the stature and leadership of Lincoln , Rooservelt , Adenauers , or within your living memory , Tatchers. But irregardless , all of them will be committed to serving in the best interest of both their people , and of the multi-verse at large. "

She snorted. " Sounds like a manifesto of a far-left utopian fantasy."

" But it's ideal isn't it? Democracy is imperfect and rendered with problems . The worst form government , except for all others that have been tried. But suppose there were ways to make your oath of office completely enforceable. . Suppose that democracy would always assure the best , the most competent , the incorruptible., irregardless of who wins the elections. There are ways of ensuring that ." The ermine countered.

" But muggles -"

" That term will be soon rendered obsolete. _**Reconstruction . **_The aim is not only to rebuild the shattered society of Wizarding Britain , but ultimately , prepare for a more genetically equal humanity. Before we can establish contact with this time-line , every human in this planet will have magic as their birthright. And for , that , the stature of secrecy must be gradually resolved in a managed , controlled fashion. Humanity will embrace what you call "magic" , and make it something on par with "sentience". A slight pause.

" And if all humans wield magics , then there are means and ways of creating unerring , utterly neutral guards who shall guard the integrity of these time-lines leaders. Just two years ago , you learned of this phase:**Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? **Who will guard the guards? It will soon be rendered irrelevant. Your society's measures of check and balances , while having the right idea are still currently too failable , and vulnerable to several problems." The ermine concluded

" Well , it's not that I disagree with you that such governments are desirable indeed , but -" _Really . That's just surreal. I was about to go into a political debate about the right of my time-line. It's most ludicrous. _

She rolled her eyes. " Oh , very well . You have made your point."

" Besides , your ways have turned up men such as Cornelius Fudge in a position of power , didn't it? Might I remind you that as biased as the British Minister of Magic electoral system is to vested interest , it was ultimately voters who voted Cornelius into office , and look what we got. A funeral pyre for a fifth of your population. A buffon , a self-interested short sighted moron such as him would have never been able to run for the mayoralty of a small rural town in the multi-verse , let alone any other significant , meaningful political position whatsoever. "

She winced at that , since that dagger went straight right where it hurt . At the personal level, since she was one of the victims of that policy. And what right did she had to be high and mighty anyway , she told herself.

" No more thrust . I yield. " She raised her hand . " Alright , I get the idea of what _**Rally **_is . But what about _**Kingpin**_ ? I assume it's the elimination of Voldermort. "

" You are correct. The fourth phase shall be launched once Rally achieves enough of it's aims . And we have been sufficiently synched that victory against Voldermort is a certainty. With Voldermort out of the way , Eliminate would proceed quickly , and with far less need for caution . Of course , there can be problems that crop up. But let me assure you , my have anticipated all possible scenarios , and even the unanticipated has been accounted for. " The ermine stopped.

She arch an eyebrow ." That sounds a little too overconfident. "

" Or perhaps , my confidence in this mind? " The ermine wittily responded.

She resisted the urge to blush at that compliment.

" So , when do we begin with this long road?" She asked.

" Right now , if you wish. The drones have already marked several viable targets . We would not even need to utilize the taboo yet."

End Chapter

A/N : **Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. **Who will guard the guards? There are several meanings to this , but one interpretation is political in nature , and refers to the question of where ultimate power should reside , and of check and balances. Another way of putting it will be : Who police the police? There are numerous other ways of looking at this.

A/N2 : What I've described just now was a rather brief sketch of some of the political ideas systems that I suspect a highly advanced civilization might adopt. These are just some political musings of mine .

A/N3: Is a talking ermine annoying? By the way , it's a shout out. Some reader might just realize what I'm talking about, and what I'm trying to parody here.

A/N4 : To be blunt , I'm still trying to capture and settle on the characterizations of my OC s here. And this is a pure OC fic , since this scenario hinges on a total Voldermort Victory.


	6. Denying Retribution

Chapter 5 : Denying Retribution

"Tell me. If you are Voldermort , and you were just informed that a sizable contingent of your servants were found dead , what would you do?"

She repressed a shudder , as they walked along a corridor that suddenly appeared beyond the western end of the pool.

" Kill the messenger , probably. Put my death-eaters on alert . And , knowing him , he would probably order a few reprisal killings. " She shrugged . "It's difficult to say for certain , since I never fought him directly , so whatever I predict will only be from third- or fourth-hand experience . "

" Then we shall have a front row seat to Voldermort's decision making process. " The ermine responded in a vaguely amused tone, as he came to a stop

"Front row - ?" She stopped as she suddenly saw a glowing floor below her. A floor etched with incandescent glowing rune like symbols intertwining with each other into circle. " What - "

Before she had a chance to complete the sentence , she felt a jerk like motion against her abdomen , akin the apparition. The world briefly constricted itself , as the scene seemed to collapse onto her followed by the brief sensation of getting sucked down some long straight pipe. And then , the sensation ended just as abruptly as it came.

She blinked her eyes , as the Ermine shimmered into existence in-front of her , like some suddenly appearing mirage. A quick look around revealed completely different surroundings. She was in a vast , cavernous , circular room , that seemed to stretch to the horizon , bounded by grey fog. Right infront of her were a series of circles ; arranged circularly and pulsing gently with varying lights. The room felt still , calm . Not the an oppressing stifling calmness , which she vaguely remembered . It was closer to the calm of a library.

"Your favorite sky." With a single word from the Ermine , the grey fog suddenly vanished , to be replaced with a golden sky with pink outlining the western horizon, a calm gentle breeze from the east ruffling her hair . Yet another reminder of how thorough the Ermine knew her mind.

Etched along the bucolic country soil , like crop circles but only on a field of flowers and grass instead of wheat were the circles. The next moment , she stood with the Ermine right in the middle , of what she was just silently informed was the middle of the circle of circles.

" This is - " She started asking .

" Think of this as a much more … technologically advanced version of a pensive, perhaps . Another way to think of it are these as a bunch of televisions of kinds , one circle for each channel. Only , these televisions allow you to experience things in real time , and each channel represents a source – a nano-telementary drone, transmitting information about it's location , just like how you would perceive it if you were actually there, first hand." The voice of the Ermine replied from ontop of her head, in a manner reminiscent of a Professor answering his or her student. " There are ways to obtain information from multiple drones at once , experiencing multiple locations at once. Multi-tasking would greatly facilitate syncing. Plus , consider this a briefing . "

" So we will be setting off after this?" She asked.

" As soon as you wish. Let us begin. " As soon as the Ermine ended , she felt herself falling towards every single ring around her all at once, as the Ermine seemingly turned into a golden orb. It was an experience unlike anything she ever comprehended. A multicolored display of lights overlapped each other in her vision.

And then , her mind began multi-tasking on not just two or three things at once , but began perceiving several dozens sensations , sights , and sounds that all overlapped on one another. The closest thing in her prior experience was the background noise of multiple voices in the Great Hall . But in addition to hearing the chatter of multiple sounds at once , she also saw and felt multiple scenes all at once. She stood amidst a multitude of flashing , overlapping images.

Then , the feed of experiences began filtering out one by one , as information feeds involving irrelevant experiences like being in-transit to target locations , or periods of time where nothing of significance happened were shut off. Next came the experiences of things of some importance , but not immediately at hand. Political speeches , sessions of the International Confederation of Wizards , boardroom and cabinet meetings of no importance , and addresses to the United Nations on this or that outstanding diplomatic issue, some of minor importance , some completely trivial and irrelevant in the long run. They all faded away , leaving behind impressions , snippets , general knowledge.

_We are more interested , at the current moment , of Voldermort's current position. _The same voice pronounced at the back , within her mind.

A session of the Wizengamont – she stiffen at that – was taking place . Before , two ashen faced so called aurors stood . They were talking about her actions. Or what was left. A report given , about outstanding – she snorted at that – citizens being massacred within the confines of their homes, and of blasted wards . The diagnosis that most of the victims finally succumbed to asphyxiation , and of bizarre deaths. All throughout , the council continually injected , with inquires turning into taunts and insults and jeers. One member snidely remarked of one of the aurors half-blood legacy.

_Not completely relevant of course. But you can clearly see here than the Wizangamont , indeed , the Ministry has been most packed with Voldermort's lackies and servitors . We will likely face the full resources of the Ministry at a certain point. But the ministry is just a tool for the ends of the Dark Lord. What really matters here is Voldermort's reaction. _

The Wizengamont session faded away , replaced by an audience of hooded figures , standing beneath dark , cavernous , ornate hall. Internally , a voiceless thought told her that this transmission began at 1530H , followed by a string of co-ordinates that she could hardly recognized , though the last few numbers seemed to indicate Longitude and Latitude.

They were standing before a snake faced , pale tall , thin figure , seated on a throne like chair on an elevated point. One by one , they swooped into the room , forming a precise formation . One by one , they steped out , grovelling with bowed heads , hastily making their reports. Figures on "productivity" , on "embassies" to another nations (which took a surprising amount of time), of the actions of the Snatchers, and a few on the Muggle government of Britain, centered largely around record keeping after a brief preamble. It was like seeing a fast-forwarded video, and actually comprehending the contents of that video. It was the closest analogy to describe to torrent of words and images being registered in her mind.

There was one alarming theme that resolved itself from all these distinct images and sounds. The Dark Lord's influence was beginning to penetrate the continent , subtly. Again , the same sense of "knowing" came over her .

Abruptly , it slowed down. Another hooded figure stepped up and bowed before the Dark Lord.

" My Lord , if I may speak. "

" You may ." A thin , arctic voice imperiously command.

_He is bored. _

" My Lord , thirteen of your servants , who recently took your mark were found dead early this morning , at Duskflight manor. According to the Ministry investigators who were sent in , the wards of manor were completely destroyed. " The hooded man bowed again

" Did the assailants leave any bodies behind?" Voldermort scoffed.

" We – cannot say , My Lord. Many of the bodies were too badly damaged for us to identify them. " The man paused at Voldermort's posture . It was clear that he was boring Voldermort, before he recovered. " Would you wish for us to halt the investigations , my Lord?" 

" Continue. Clearly , my faith in the skill of some of my servants have been misplaced. " He gave a theatrics sigh, dismissing the man with a careless wave "Nevertheless , the deaths of any who have taken my mark cannot go unanswered. "

"Edmundson . " He coldly call out.

A medium build man of average height walked out amongst the crowd. " My Lord" , he bowed a little

" Take six of your Snatchers to the nearest muggle settlement from the site of this unfortunate event at sundown , this evening. Kill as many Muggles as you can find."

At that , the vision dissolved itself. Once more , Cecelia found herself in the vast room where she was previously in .

" Of course , Voldermort hopes that whatever did this would reveal itself with such a provocation. And , at the very least , he cannot afford to see the deaths of any of his servants go without any repercussions. " The Ermine commented.

" And ? How does he plan on capitalizing on that? "

" My drones have detected a swarm of 200 dementors spread out over at a five kilometer radius away from the manor"

She swallowed hard.

" Fortunately , it's not 200 wizards . We'll have some trouble if that happens. We would simply have to make the small band , vanish. Without a trace. Swiftly. Thankfully , the wards can still be revived , if one has enough skill. We can use a Spatial seal still , from what's left of the wards , and background magic around the manor, for roughly five minutes or so. During which , we shall eliminate the band." The Ermine reassured.

"Alright then. " She decided she had no choice but to trust the Ermine. "What time do we move out?"

" We estimate that the punitive raid will arrive any time in between 2000H and 2045H . That's roughly an hour from now. " The Ermine replied. " Time has now been set to be aligned with real-time outside , so that should be in an hour. "

" And what do we do the hour?" 

The Ermine gave an improbable grin. "Train."

2012H , 3 May 1999

Cecelia found herself admiring the sky . It had been months since she had seen an evening sky , and interplay of fading golden light and gloriously fine blue , set amidst a rapidly sinking orb in a Spring sky was something truly exquisite. Actually , she realized she had not seen a real sky for months. Just seeing for real would have been glorious – seeing a sky that would have been glorious in any situation merely amplified the sensation that was forming in her.

The Ermine was nowhere to be seen . And she momentarily forgot its existence , until , a warning came from the back of her mind.

_They are coming. _The Ermine's voice calmly echoed within his mind.

_Tracking Apparation routes and destination. Scout Drones dispatched to identify target . _Another faint voice whispered in her mind.

_The have indicated that their destination is right at the western gate of the manor. ETA , ten seconds. Go._ A very swift voice sounded in her mind.

She responded without even thinking of it , shifting herself right infront of the Western Gate.

Immediately upon arriving , she felt her mind "grasping" faint tendrils of magic around the wardstone , and hovering throughout the manor like a mist, rapidly weaving them like a net , a netted sphere 150 meters in radius. As she was doing this , her reconstructed wand reappeared in her hand.

Black long indistinct columns swooped , initially rapidly , then slowing down as it encountered the net , before colaecing right infront of her , seven men surrounding r her in a haphazard circle, as she suddenly turned the spherical net into a solid , if invisible to the naked eye, coherent spherical barrier that isolated that region of Space and time.

" Well , little girl. " Randal Edmundson – that was the name that shouted out at her mind – casually remarked as he pointed his wand at her . " It's a month too early for the Hogwarts Express isn't it? "

Seven wands were drawn at her .

_Don't respond. 4 Minutes , 56 Seconds left. Begin. _

She hurled herself straight at the Death Eater , firing a mixed series of Incareouses , Stunners and other minor curses.

The Death Eater cursed as he brought up a Portego right infront of him to block the rapid fire series of spells. The shield easily held off the relatively weak barrage , but it was too late for him by then .

Cecelia leapt right before the edge of the shield , over the head of the Death Eater at an accelerated rate physically impossible without magic. At the very apex of her jump , a single , extremely precise bonebreaker shattered both of the Death Eaters hands. The wand spun right out of his hands.

As she leapt , her wand twirled around to face the direction opposite of her front. Landing with a single precise Arresto Momentum , she immediately fired a single curse , a rather nasty one whose invention was due in five decades down the time-line called Internal Catastrophe . It was meant to cause internal damage to organs within the affected area , but with the power she threw into the spell , the organs within the Death Eater simply disintegrated. All organs – from stomach up to the heart , lung and brain .

Quickly turning around as the Death Eater's body crumpled to the ground , she fired a single vanishment spell to eliminate what was left of the body. Simultaneously , she wandlessly summoned the fallen Death Eater's wand, and faced the remaining six snatchers , spreader out in an arc in front of her .

She threw the same multi-layered series of shields up as a few of the Snatchers managed to return some spell-fire. Some were quite nasty. There were a series of Stunners , some Bone Breakers , Blood thinners – very much a motley assortment of hexes.

Her perfectly optimized shields effortlessly negated the spell-fire. With her original wand , she held the shield. With the second wand , she prepared her offensive before any Snatcher decided to attempt the Crucio or Killing Curse.

"Expulso Arcus" She forcefully declared.

A Banishment charm swept the area ahead of her , forming an arc that rippled through the air like a shockwave. The remaining Snatchers were knocked off their feet by the sheer force of the impact , hurled several meters away to the ground.

Pin point , silent -non verbal, ultra thin silver colored spells swiftly penetrated the brains or hearts of four of the Snatchers at the extreme ends of the arc before they got up . These silent offensive spells were followed by Disintegration curses, to remove the evidence.

_Good call on securing your flanks. 4 Minutes , 31 Seconds left. _

She advanced on the last two Snatchers as the four more wands joined her arsenal , levitating in front of her.

Both of the remaining Snatchers took one wild look around them, and simultaneously attempted to Apparate out – only to find they were unable to.

Both had a brief look of horror on their face , before six simultaneous "Precision Reductos " blew their bodies to bits. Three to each man , one right on the head , one to the chest , one to the Pelvis. A vanishment charm soon cleaned up what was left of the corpses.

_55 Seconds in Battle. You have to be faster than that when we get to the main phase. _The Ermine remarked.

" You were right . " She said in wonderment , the exhilaration of the battle still coursing through the brain. It was all so smooth , so natural . The spells just came to her when she wanted them too , those physical feats – the moment she began her run , any doubts just simply faded away , and she just fought . There was a strong sense of euphoria still coursing through her .

_There's still the 200 Dementors out there you know ? We should move on . That force is still a little beyond your ability to deal with. _

The voice interrupted her internal celebrations .

" You're right" She sighed, "Where to ?"She dismissed the Spatial space (simply thinking of it was enough) , and apparated away noiselessly at the answer.

A/N: 47 Pages of writing , and no reviews? Oh well , it might well get to 40000 , 60000 , or even 100K words without a review . I don't think there's a 100K word fic without reviews right?

A/N2 : A short chapter – my shortest chapter yet , but this seems to be the best place to stop this chapter. The exposition will be ending soon , and the next chapters would likely be action heavy.


	7. Manifested Intelligence

Chapter 6 : Manifested intelligence. 

This night , the sky was clear , and the rainclouds were no nearer than 200 Kilometers away .

Cecelia frowned at the Ermine next to her , realizing something.

" So why this form? I know that you can take whatever form you like. " Cecelia asked, as she stopped infront of the distortion.

The two of them stood before the wrinkle in the fabric of space-time that marked the entrance point of the Sanctuary. Producing the distortion , at the very epic-center of the distortion , unseen by human eyes laid the tiny , nanometer radius sphere on the ground.

Shortly after the battle , that voice in her head suddenly manifested itself as the same familiar Ermine. Apparently , she had "gained a Synchronization level" with the battle. Enough that the image of the Ermine could manifest itself . When asked , she was told that eventually she could summon a fully corporeal body – but for now , an image to represent was all she could apparently manage at this stage. It was then she also realized that the Ermine could take whatever form it liked.

" To serve a certain literary cliche which has not truly penetrated deeply into the Western World right now? " The Ermine quizzically responded to the prior question, cocking its head in a very human like fashion. A disturbing fashion , perhaps , in the eyes of some.

" Which is ? " She asked curiously.

" Why , I am a familiar. A mascot. A link betweeny ou and this very soul that inhabits your body. I am an interface between the soul , and your mind. Considering that your back story could easily be a plot for that genre , I think it's most suitable. "

She cocked her head , puzzled. " What genre? And , I didn't vote for you. This mascot at least. "

" And what's your conception of how this form should look like then?" the Ermine asked.

" What a weird question. Surely you know from the onset?"

" Not unless you come up with an answer. If you've never thought of it , how should I know? Can anyone predict his or her thoughts ahead of time , if these thoughts have not been thought off previously? " The Ermine asked .

She immediately understood what he was driving at. She rolled her eyes. " Alright , I buy your logic. It's a rhetoric question – I get it. "

" Still, " she continued , " I would definitely prefer something human. Talking to an Ermine is tolerable , but a normal human face – and a normal human body – no disembodied heads please , would be much better."

They both stepped into the distortion , sub-consciously wishing themselves in , and the environment abruptly changed to a well paved footpath towards that same house she had set out from. It was the first time she saw the house from outside. Both of them had departed from another point of entrance in this area.

" Like this?" The ermine's voice transformed to a very familiar sound.

Her voice.

Cecelia stopped , turning to the source of the voice. Standing right there , a light smile on her face was an exact mirror image of herself.

She stared in surprise. Her mirror image , her twin , her … doppelganger simply returned that stare , the same amused light smile still on the Interface's visage.

They stood , facing each other , with a soft dawn light casting it's rays over them ,their hairs flowing in unison in the wind.

It was the interface that first broke the silence.

" I can take any form I wish . An ermine , a human , an orb of light , or even just a voice. Of course you know that already. And what human form is more familiar or normal to your own perspective than your own? At least , this principle is true , given your mindset and mentality."

The interface moved infront of her.

" What I am is integral to what I am. And what you are now." It /She turned around , walking through the door at the end of the footpath.

_Shall I explain to you face to face?_

Her voice quietly resonated in her mind.

And Cecelia followed, musing on that cryptic comment.

They walked , their footsteps making a soft constant noise in the wide passage way , gently lighted by an unseen source.

_There are many powers that will be available to you as Synchronization progresses. One of which is the manifestation of certain kinds of Artificial Intelligences into solid , corporeal bodies. Hyper-intelligent ghost progressing from projecting an avatar of itself , all the way down to the summoning of a Corporeal Artificial Intelligence in the base reality _Her very own voice echoed throughout her mind. Was it her ?

Cecelia briefly turned around to look at her twin. Facing her was the Interface , who briefly smirked before once again looking to the front.

_Convenient , is it not? Soon enough , you might not be able to distinguish this voice from your one of your own thoughts , they shall become one and the same. This is my nature. This is not merely the side-effect of synchronization , this is synchronization , when a biological mind and soul fit together in perfect unison. I am the Canary in the mine , if you will. And when I disappear , your complete assimilation is nigh, if I may be blunt and honest._

Cecelia briefly internally marveled that there was no feeling of repulse , and panic at that. Shouldn't it? No , not really . She didn't feel that way , and she knew just the reason why.

" So , that's the fine print in the agreement. Is there any other?" She remarked outloud , a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

Snark.

_All other clauses that are a logical extension of this . Which you know by now._

_Great. Another dumping of memory. What is it called ? Information dump right?_

_You show a great talent for diverting conversations off-topic. _

_Ok then. Get to the point. So , I assume that the fact that you are taking my form proves that this , Sync has reached a certain …. percentage? Something like , 25 % _

_Correct. You've just crossed the boundary . Which is why an image of myself can be projected in the real world._

_Then , you would start acting more like me then ? Because really , I don't see much difference between you in my form , and you in that absurd ermine form. _

_You will understand the reasons . In time. Not now._

_Alright , let me empirically confirm that I truly know what you are then. No deceptions. Just the truth. You are a special kind of A.I , constructed to facilitate conversation between the soul , and a mind belonging to a prior soul , or belonging to another previous soul. A gatekeeper , a butler -_

At that word , her clone suddenly wore a butler suit , complete with dark sun glasses over her eyes.

_Ok , you are now being ridiculous. _

_Continue on . _

Cecelia sighed outloud. "Alright then . " _You are specially designed to require a lower... sync requirement , for the lack of a better word , before you can manifest yourself. This comes at a certain cost , of course. Namely , the ability to operate far from your host , and a much reduced magic core. Which means you aren't much help in combat. _"With such details , I can safely presume then , that there are other that can manifest themselves , bearing numerous different capabilities and roles. And , even without being told , it is logical , given everything so far , that … manifested , corporeal can only be summoned and maintained at higher sync rates. And perhaps , I can summon multiple corporeal , more properly called Manifested Intelligence , at the same time, past a certain sync level. "

_All of them . _The interface interjected.

Cecelia stopped for a moment , in the middle of the strangely long corridor , which the far side off could not be seen. She ignored that fact though , in favor of staring again in surprise at the interface, before recovering , and moving on .

" Your magic core after all , does have enough potential for that . " The interface spoke out-loud. " You wouldn't have been chosen other wise."

"How many . " Cecelia struggled to keep her sense of amazement out of her voice.

" About 327 . Not including you , of course. "

" And how many does this soul posses?" 

" 7235 of one Brainpower or more dormant , and not activated in this time-line. 1312 above the same threshold were activated , and entered into the time-line , of which 327 were equipped with manifestation capability . No have been currently scheduled for production . A.I production capacity currently stands at 0.43 brainpower per day. That , of course , not counting several more thousand less than one Brain-power that were brought along , and a few hundred 0.01 Brainpower category observation . " The clone gave a smile , remarking " Is it not a good impersonation of your way of presenting an answer to a certain Arithmatic problem at Hogwarts?"

Cecelia had to agree that it was. Not that she was in a position to disagree , such was her stunned state of mind.

" Of course , in the Sanctuary , the threshold for summoning a corporeal A.I – indeed , multiple Corporeal are much lower. Sync has progressed at a pleasantly unexpected fast pace – within the 80th probability percentile of development rate projected."

"Which means?"

" You will begin summoning and making an A.I manifest itself , once we get to the end of the corridor. "

And a distinct light , and doorway opened up not too far down the corridor in front of her.

Both of them stepped through the portal.

Beyond it was a wide ledge lying exposed under the wide open blue sky.

She dryly remark : " you do have a thing for ledges , don't you?"

They stood along a completely circular balcony. Now that they were out of the portal , it was clear the portal itself was slightly curved to complete the circle.

" It's not a ledge. It's a balcony." The interface deadpanned, before making a small slashing motion with her right hand.

Runic inscriptions raced throughout the floor of the balcony . Runes written in 121 different languages curved upon themselves , one upon another . Five general circles of runes were formed . Within each greater circle were progressively smaller and smaller circles. Even the very center consisted of runes etched on a scale close to the sub-atomic level Of the runes she could read , the words "conjuration" and "ideas" and "mind" repeated themselves , a running theme throughout each and every circles . More detailed information on each of the runic circles filtered around the edge of her consciousness briefly , before fading away .

It was an immense number of details , and tiny nuances. It was about as incomprehensible as computing language was to her before she met the traveler. In it were some of it's indirect descendants. But above all , she realized that in the script of the runes were written a representation of a mind. Of a mind , the code of an artificial intelligence. A code written in more than just three spatial dimensions. She decided to pull back from pursuing more , realizing that she was approaching the limits of her comprehension.

_So you've realized it this quickly ? Or do I need to spell it out for you ?_

_Bodies. Solid , living , touching bodies. Minds in conjured bodies. How do I -_

_A silly question to ask._

The same old process of just knowing repeated itself again. She had learnt , in between one moment and the next on how to give Artificial Intelligences flesh. Autonomous Artificial Intelligence bound to a single will. And the knowledge of re-summoning Magic Cores that were already forged , and existed as a concept in a place roughly translated as a Space of "ideas".

"Plato's theory of forms , huh?" She remarked " I personally did not buy it."

" Such a place does not truly exist of course , except in the minds of humans. And even the world of forms can only become an Akashic record through deliberate human intervention. Think of it as a library etched on some higher plane of reality , and you wouldn't be too far off. Think of each form , each template , each idea , an unpublished manuscript , and each manuscript published the act of creating Akashic records. "

" Evidently , getting into a philosophical argument with you is suicide. " Cecelia shook her head. " So , Akashic records do not exist naturally?"

" Define Naturally. "

" Are you having fun at my expense ? " She accused the Interface.

" No."

She threw up her hands . " I give up on that. Let's get on with what we were supposed to do here then. "

" Akashic records are not produced naturally by humans. They are as unnatural as a library. Or the Internet. " The interface continued. " As you have been recently enlightened ( not that you were totally unaware of that beforehand), humanity is on the path of storing information and facts , and knowledge without paper. Virtually all human knowledge will eventually , if humanity does not destroy itself , appear on the Internet. Consider the templates of the Magic Cores you've received as a download from a descendant of the internet that exist on a plane of reality higher than this." The Interface volunteered.

" I take your word for it. " She conceded, a hint of impatience in her voice

" Then we shall begin. Focus on the concept of the first Magic Core your mind has been provided with. Envision it being placed over the Runic Summoning circle with tendrils of your magic. Imagine it's essence dissolving into the words. " The interface instructed.

She obeyed . She felt magic tingling out of her , a sensation she had learned to associate with the Imperius , or perhaps a memory charm. It shared a root with these spells , of course.

The tendrils of magic converged upon one another , weaving like strings into something resembling a knotted sphere. And then the knots collapse upon themselves , and the Runic Circle Resonated along , as the sphere sank into the runes.

She could see the Ball glow with a slightly extended halo , like light was being drawn out from the surroundings. From within the Sanctuary. It would be quite sometime before she reached the level where she could summon them in the flesh outside the Sanctuary.

_Repeat the Process. For the remaining four circles. All at once. _

The idea of the other four cores appeared on the forefront of her mind . But it was then that she perceived that the thoughts were not coming directly from her. Each of the four cores moved on their own at once , or rather , the minds behind them , drawing the magic from her Magic Core to initiate the "Manifestation" process. The thoughts behind it were not her own , all that her mind did was to push out the magic, and summon the minds from some space beyond consciousness.

She could actually feel the strain on her Magic Core , like the onset of some lethargy . It was like a muscle in her chest was being pulled out , or perhaps close to her heart. On top of that , there was the beginnings of a throbbing headache.

The sensation then faded , once the four cores joined their siblings , sinking and infusing itself into the runes . The symptoms of the drain on her magic faded away as swiftly as it's onset.

_Channel my will through your mind. Will them into being. With intention. _

She would do it of course. But she had to note the strange parallels between this experience and the imp-

_Focus please._

Six Voices spoke in Unison.

Oh right .

Re-focusing back to the task at hand , she conceived of a human silhouette rising from each of the five circles.

_Now . The password. _

She sub-vocalized , her voices chanting five different things at once.

"- Night , all seeing Eye , Co-ordinator -"

" The blade , the side , the glaive of the master - "

"The first shadow , on the bridge bound -"

" On blood before , on ties of blood. A warmth , a gentle illusion on the breeze-"

" The Citadel of mental treasures , the conductor silent. The watcher reawaken , in flesh bound by mind transcendent -"

_First password unlocked. Second pass word unlocked. _And on it went, till the fifth incantation was completed.

_Word Impression saved . Instant summoning enabled. Mental Keys defined. Summon. _

"Checked. Activating " Five voices spoke at once.

Vaguely human shaped lights rose up in unison from each of the five circles. Two appeared to "climb out " of the circle , another two rose straight up , and one flickered into existence.

The outlines swiftly resolving and defining themselves , forming five recognizable bodies dressed in a general black bodysuit. With facial features still vague , imperceptible.

"Personalization granted."

And each of the suits transformed into a varying array of colors and of styles. And each face took on it's own unique features and hairstyles.

The summoned constructs stood upright on each of the fading summoning circles , their eyes shut , as if they were all sleeping. There were five of them in all. Three females , and two males.

And then , all at once , they opened their eyes. Light blue , dark purple, emerald green , hazel brown , and amber gold.

The one called Afenia with the light blue eyes , and a long flowing teal hair spoke first.

" Hello Cecelia. We have met before . Twice. The first time ,through the eyes one of the minds that are a part of me. And in the second , you were in my embrace when you stepped into the Scrying circles , to see through the eyes of the drones under me. " She arced an eyebrown " This body of yours , and your mind is rather fast at syncing. I was right after all , about you ? "

Afenia turned to look at the interface. "Right?"

The male A.I with hazel brown eyes snorted . "You never change don't you , Afenia?"

" And you always take object to that , don't you -"

" Meadar . An A.I specializing in strategic and tactical planning and command. Some of the actions you have taken in battle was a result of my unspoken suggestions. I am the A.I , a personification of all other combat related . My blade is at your command." The long golden haired , hazel brown eyed A.I introduced himself with a flourish.

" Therea . Archivist A.I .I process and disseminate all information kept by this soul." The purple eyed A.I with wavy , matching short purple hair introduced herself next, in a quiet voice.

"My name is Iarin. I am a general purpose A.I attending to any general or miscellaneous purposes that the host body requires. Think of me as a personal Secretary perhaps , a Valet , or more appropriately a butler. " The green eyed , black haired man with his hair cropped short announced , bowing as he finished speaking.

" Osyrene. I am , for the lack of the better word , an assassin. " Besides her golden eyes , everything else about her looked utterly unassuming. Or was meant too anyway . For some reason , Cecelia could perceive her fully , as a small built , lithe female with close cropped hair .

" Thank you everyone. " The interface stepped forward.

Afenia raised an eye brown . " I suppose we should call you Mistress Cecelia then , in this time-line. "

"That would be for the best" The interface casually and lightly remarked. "Otherwise , it defeats the purpose of this whole exercise won't it. "

The interface clapped her hands together. "Proceed to your quarters. I'll introduce each of you to the new host , one by one."

"Qua-ters... ?" The actual Cecelia asked , puzzled.

When she next looked around , all five were gone , only leaving her doppleganger , the Interface behind.

She stared for a brief moment .

" So , this are the that can be summoned. "

"There are more of course , but these are the principal ones that I will allow you to summon at your discretion. They are five of a dozen or so leading that we call into the flesh . More properly known , these are called manifested intelligences My innermost companions , so to speak. The most human , and advanced of them all , each with their own life , personality and history. But we share the same will of course , and they will obey all my commands. " The Interface explained.

" They are you? In the same way that I am you ? Or you are me? " Cecelia asked.

" After a fashion" The Interface reassured , laying her hands on Cecelia. " But you are a slightly special case , being a birth-mind. You are the first , and only mind of a soul , after all. It makes all the difference." She turned away , and walked out of the balcony.

"Come. " She instructed. And Cecelia followed.

Once more , they were walking down the same corridor past the Western end of the pool where she and the interface held their first prolonged conversation.

" As you can see , the default structure of the sanctuary operates on a principal similar to the Hogwarts you are used to. Corridors and pathways to various locations to the Sanctuary can be shifted around , if you wish. " The personal Assistant A.I , Iarin explained as the three of the walked through into the ornately carved entrance into the Corridor.

"Or , you could simply ask for a translocation to any facility or room within this Sanctuary . Just summon and request it of me , and it will be done. " Iarin continued.

" Erm.. Alright then . There is only one last place we have to visit right now , right ?" Cecelia turned to look at the interface.

" We've already visited the Scrying room once. Just before the most recent battle , remember?"

Cecelia did a quick run trough on the layout of the Sanctuary . It was capable of simulating up to 500 Kilometers of reality in any direction at any one time, provided that the detail of reality was at equivalent to normal reality. The current configuration of the Sanctuary was a structure perched on a higher ground ending in a sheer cliff overlooking a beach below. The surface that the Structure laid on was part of the outer surface of an artificial dome shaped habitat whose total circumference was 500 kilometers The dome itself was hollow inside , with a thickness of up to 20 kilometers deep. Even though it was theoretically possible to simulate the entire dome at once , in practice , only a small fraction of the total volume of the dome was simulated. By default , no more than 100 kilometers along the surface of the sphere , and in this case , five kilometers in depth.

The structure itself laid exactly at the very top of the dome , extending down to 2 kilometers below surface level. There were several-

" We are here , Ceclia. " The interface disrupted her chain of thoughts.

They stood once more in the same Cavernous room , a hundred kilometers of simulated reality from one end of the room to another. The walls faded into the extreme distance , unseen beyond the horizon.

By some unexplained instinct , she commanded " Sky."

And the cool breeze of the evening gently touched her face , and set her loose hair flowing , under the golden sky.

Waiting for both of them , standing right amidst a forest of glowing circles (which reminded Cecelia of a series of crop circles in a wheat field) was Afenia. The A.I appeared to be floating within the middle of the field , eyes staring off into the distance

" Enjoyed your tour ?" The light blue eyes of the Artificial Intelligence with the Teal Color hair focused on her , as she smirked.

" You were watching , as always , aren't you?" Cecelia blurted out almost unconsciously.

" My , the fact that you have become aware of this fact clearly shows how far your sync has come along. This is impressive – which percentile of host bodies is she in , in terms of sync performance ?" This time , Afenia addressed the interface , a light amused smile on her face.

" That's not the reason why we are here , Afenia. " The interface lightly admonished. At the same time , Cecelia spotted the interface and the Scrying A.I exchanged a quick brief look with each other as the Interface spoke. Were they communicating with each other without words at the same time?

She didn't get much of a chance to persue that line of thought , as Afenia replied. " Ah well , to work then , so you are in no mood to banter. I suppose you want a verbal report for our friend over there as to what my drones and fellow have seen then?" Afenia's previously relaxed posture stiffen , as her face became serious.

"Let's begin. Voldermort's reactions , Snatcher and Death Eater estimated strength , potential battle-fields , and potential allies. " The glowing rings began pulsing , and motes of light rose up like bubbles in a fizzy drink , to form a series of coherent images.

" A nano drone has established contact within Voldermort's current audience chamber. "

At this moment , Afenia smiled " We must give him credit. His personal quarters have been separated from the location where he holds Audiences with Supporters and allies outside of his Inner Death Eater Circle. We have however , also set out certain monitoring nano-drones at Malfoy Manor too , and can confirm that most higher level Death-Eater meetings are still held within its premises. However , it is clear the he does not reside there. "

" So , where is his personal quarters?" Cecelia asked .

" Impossible to say for certain , as of now , without a close range Legilimantic scan of his closest followers , or of Voldermort himself. It goes without saying that the second is impractical but even the first may pose problems of its own. We speculate , based on data on similar time-lines , that he may very well be moving from Safehouse to Safehouse. " Afenia replied.

"However , engaging him is not an immediate priority , and with two of his Horcruxes still around , even the theoretical possibility of defeating him will not be enough to eliminate this threat for good. " Another voice interjected. It was Meadar , who simply appeared without announcement.

" Keep searching for any potential holes that Voldermort might go to ground to . If our offensive is too sucessful , he might very well choose this course of action. " The Interface spoke , before Afenia could respond to the interruption. "Continue , Afenia."

_Handling with personalities of their own can pose a challenge ocassionally . Such is the price of sentience._

As her voice echoed in her head , Afenia resumed her briefing.

" Our successful infiltration of Voldemort's audience chambers however , has provided us with numerous leads , and means to estimate the true number of Snatchers , Sympathizers and Death-eaters supporting Voldermort. Over the past 72 hours , exploiting the various traffic in and out of both of Voldermort's audience chambers , my drones have successfully tagged onto every known Inner Circle Death Eater , 93% of marked Death-Eaters and hundreds of sympathizers and Snatchers . It's quite an ingenious system. One drone latches onto the clothing , or skin of a target . The target Apparates ,give us a co-ordinate to dispatch other drones too , and attach themselves onto another target. It's like the transmission of an epidemic , only we are using drones smaller than viruses , indeed , smaller than prions for our transmission. An ingenious , yet standard procedures , where the risk of detection is essentially nil. " Afenia paused briefly to give a mischievous smirk

"We now estimate there are around 1500 Sympathizers , and Snatchers . We should be able to arrive at a precise figure within a few more days . We have infiltrated most of Ringleaders of groups that support Voldermort. Werewolf heads , Cell Group Commanders , various Ministry Officers either Imperiused , or Voldermort aligned , like Umbitch – quite a creative nickname by the way , and I am inclined to agree with you , based on what the drones have observed." She laughed.

" Based on your recent engagements with Death-Eaters , we have been able to register the precise magical signature of the Dark Mark , and piggy-backing on it , detect the number of currently active Dark Marks. We detect 238 men and women bearing the Dark mark. There were 245 Death Eaters before entering this time-line. Let's see here . You bagged four Death-eaters at the TZ (time-fall zone) , and one more later on . Congratulations. " She smiled.

" What of the other 2 Death-eaters?"

"In the past three days , a Resistance group ambushed and eliminated a few snatchers . Along with 2 Death Eaters in the process. " Afenia explained , as an idea entered Cecelia's thoughts.

" So these are the potential allies?"

"Yes. Patience. " The interface answred.

" So that explains why Voldermort does not suspect - "

"No , he does not suspect. He cannot contemplate what is about to descent upon him . He refuses to contemplate the possibility , because of it's absurbity. In the same manner why it's hard for Muggles to suspect about magic in this day and age. " Afenia explained . " Even in the two Inner Circle meetings he held , it is clear that he has attributed your actions to an action by the resistance . "

" I thought the resistance was eliminated?" Cecelia asked.

" When a ruler violates Machiavelli's dictum on the importance of not being hated , a Resistance is always inevitable. Though these people have been quite unusually open , I give you that. Without our intervention , Voldermort will eventually corner these people , and exterminate them. Now , however , they provide an ideal cover for us to begin our offensive – and disrupt any attempts to crush this group in the process. " Meadar answered.

" You should upload the information into her mind . I'll have done that , you know . " Afenia commented. "Back to the topic. " She hastily added , before Meadar could respond. "Our soul has prohibited of us to exploit this information to track down Death-Eaters. Indeed , I'll be honest with you here. There are things and details I will not inform you of , unless the Soul gives the go-ahead . It is best to delay the enemy from realizing the degree of intelligence we have on them , until it's too late. That's why we are using the Death-mark trace sparingly . If our Scrying hang around too long , Voldemort will certainly detect that something , or someone has "hacked" into his Dark Mark , so to speak. "

" Let's move on to the potential battlefields for our next phase of operations then , which Dear Meadar must be dying to speak about " Afenia smirked at Meadar.

The images over the glowing circles re-resolved itself into astonishingly detailed topographic maps , showing in 3 dimensions various terrains and locations . Like how it would look like from the air.

"The battle-fields have been selected via hacking into Satellite imagery taken from orbit. We have chosen them for various criteria . Distance from sizable Muggle Settlements , natural ambient magic levels , remoteness , believability , and finally terrain. " The A.I pointed at a map a few meters away , and stroked the air down with a finger in the direction of everyone within the room.

The circle he pointed at glimmered briefly ,then faded in , right in between all of them . Emitting over the circle was a full scale map of Britain , as seen fro orbit , minus Ireland . 1218 glowing points of light served as pointers to areas of region. She recognized London , more precisely Diagon Alley , the Ministry of Magic , Westminister , Number 10 Downing Street , Buckingham Palace , the City of London . In addition , Hogwarts just beyond the Scottish Border , Stonehenge , and Azkaban in the North Sea , a distance away from the Island of Britain were highlighted on the map. Tiny labels hovering over each point. Whenever her eyes focused on any label the words "popped out" , increasing in size.

She found herself suddenly seating on her favorite reading chair , facing . The Interface sat besides her , on an exact replica of her chair . On the other side sat Afenia and Meadar.

" We might want to take a seat. This will take awhile. " The interface remarked , as one of the points of interest glowed , and the map zoomed right onto it.

" And what of the resistance?" Cecelia asked .

" Voldermort would doubtlessly attribute our offensive to them , initially. Then , it shall be his move. The resistance cell who recently ambushed and killed two death Eaters shall provide a useful smokescreen . " Meadar answered.

" I will inform you once the nano-drones locate enough Resistance groups . Once enough data has been gathered , we will proceed with the third stage of the plan, _Rally . _"

" And the Horcruxes ? The fragments of Voldermort's soul?" Cecelia asked.

" There are two left. The Diadem of Ravenclaw , and Voldermort's Basilik familiar. The Bailik will be eliminated along with Voldermort. The Diadem shall be tracked down eventually. It is clear that it has been removed from Hogwarts , however. Once we are able to forge a nano-drone with Soul-sight capacities , we should be able to find it. Even if it has been moved under a Fidelus. " Afenia answered.

" Especially if. " The interface replied , looking at Cecelia.

_One last question ._ She silently replied to the interface unspoken hint.

" So , what's the most number of drones we can deploy?" She asked Afenia , curiously.

" More than enough to monitor any thing conceivably , in a world of nearly 6 billion sentient inhabitants. " She gave the increasingly familiar amused smile again.

" The whole... world under surveillance... " Cecelia managed to get out.

" Perhaps . But Therea and I will filter the information for you , so you wouldn't have to undego the same experience you did when you first came into this room. Infact , your mind would soon be unable to handle the volume of information and data that my drones are reporting. "

" In that case , we shall conclude this meeting." The interface spoke.

The evening sky , the chair , and the circles were dismissed, and the faded away as they returned to their quarters , leaving Cecelia and her Interface twin alone in the vast still and silent room.

" What's next?" Cecelia asked.

_I am being told only what you see fit right?_

_I rely on Therea on that. In truth , Afenia relies on Therea eyes , and defers to her . _

" As for you , I suggest that you sleep. In the morning , we shall visit the Training simulators . Osyrene and Meadar shall meet us there. " Iarin suddenly replied , from behind her.

Cecelia turned and looked around , realizing that they had returned to the Rectangular pool in the meanwhile.

" The room has been prepared, Mistress."

She suddenly felt extremely sleepy , and realized that she had been awake for much longer than she had thought. With the last of her lucidity , she checked the time in the internal clock installed within her mind.

_Time : 0130H , 4 May 1999._

She found herself sinking onto her bed, with that final thought.


	8. A Preview of What's to Come

Chapter 7 : A Preview of What's to come.

The Interface watched as the mind of the host body gradually sunk deeper into sleep.

'

For half an hour , it/she stared .

Then , at a silent command , the silence was broken.

Iaris appeared within the room , summoned on the spot .

" Entertaining yourself with subtle references of the Entertainment culture of this time-line , aren't you?" He casually remarked .

The Interface did not respond out-loud,

" Of course , that personality code that you've activated within me is quite entertaining too. Taking the persona of a butler , of a servant is a rather enjoyable mask to wear. But the system you've come up with is rather tacky... " Iaris remarked.

The interface remained silent for a brief while , before responding out-loud : " It is an entertaining fantasy isn't it?"

" It's not a game . "

" True , it's a job. But why not have fun on the job? I find some of the fictitious conventions of the near future to be quite fascinating in it's on right. Not to mention that it allows for my host-mind to interact with you in terms she can easily comprehend . Which is partially why I am speaking to you right now , instead of melding with you. " The Interface replied , in a voice that was the original voice of the birth-body of the soul.

Iarin smiled in return . " It is always easier to look at time-lines through the prism of it's natives , isn't it?"

"My reasons are still the same. Even if much of what we do isn't that necessary. Explaining to her face to face , this Interface , even the A.I "quarters" , all of these are just measures to give a suitable context for her mind to comprehend what is going on." The Soul , speaking through the Interface explained.

" Sleeping in a Sanctuary is like falling asleep in a dream within a dream . The fact you have left her need for sleep intact , yet force her to sleep in here is just another humorous irony. Has Afenia been making suggestions behind our backs?" Both Iarin and the Interface chuckled at that .

" Not really . But as you know , she is one of the crafted and based of my younger birth mind. Our thought process obviously would share certain similarities, of course."

From the perspective of Cecilia , the conversation was nothing more than a highly elaborate dream , one that rapidly faded from memory when she was awoken late in the morning , the following day. Within the Sanctuary , Dreams and Realities often became one and the same.

Iarin had proven the stereotypical butler , when Cecelia was awoken later in the morning , dressed , and was led out through a door from her room that she was sure did not exist the night before. From there , she was escorted through a downward sloping passage (with a magnificent view to the beach and the sea below ) to a dining hall that could have easily been a part of a posh hotel , or a mansion. To her right was a wide and tall gallery opening up to the sight of the beach and sea below. To her left , several spiral stair cases led out to a series of Designer Gardens below. Right at the other end was a tall and wide archway lying on the seemingly unbroken arrangement of stones , part of the wall at the far end of the room.

There , she was served a luxurious breakfast in a manner worthy of that of a wealthy Aristocrat. She wondered what customs the "Personal Assistance" A.I was following. She had a slight suspicion that someone was having fun at her expense here, even if the experience was much to her liking.

_Of course it would be to my liking. I'm beginning to suspect that the Soul has basically arranged for things in alignment to my preferences. Deliberately. _She quietly thought to herself , as she finished sipping tea from an elegant porcelain tea cup.

" Good morning . " Her very own voice cheerily rang out from the archway .

As she had previously suspected, the Archway was not there for show. There was now a doorway exactly fitting the shape of the Archway , where a single slab of stone once was .

" So are we ready to go?" The interface asked.

Cecelia wandlessly pushed the chair she was on backwards . " Alright . Let's go."

Iarin bowed to her as she walked towards the Archway . " This archway acts as either a corridor , or a portal straight to the central Atrium of this facility. Depending on of course , on the circumstances." He helpfully informed.

" Circumstances?" Cecelia asked , as she reached the portal.

She felt a warm hand seize her wrist , gently tugging her into the doorway before she received an answer. She found herself back in the same circular multi tier atrium that she had been led through again and again the previous day , when she was given a tour of the Sanctuary Structure.

She stood at the third tier out of a total of twelve tiers from the bottom floor of the atrium. Above , refracted sunlight glimmered through the rectangular pool at the very top of the atrium .

" It depends on whether there's a need for us to hold a prolong conversation through the corridors , or whether haste is more appropriate. " The Interface explained , as both of them walked towards" to a large rectangular , Silver-blue doorway on the other side of the tier.

Cecelia silently willed the two Silver-blue panels of the doorway to part. She had first entered the room in the previous afternoon , though through an entirely different Entrance , the first time round.

It noiselessly slid open , , revealing a vast dome shape room beyond it. Both of them walked inside together.

Runes appeared throughout the entire dome , forming patterns all over the domed walls of the room , etching it's way to the very top of the dome. When the runes reached the top , they continued down on the floor directly below the apex of the dome. A brief flash filled Cecelia's vision , and she found herself right at the very physical center of the vast dome. The interface was not brought physically along with her , but she could sense its presence in her mind. Just like how it was the previous evening.

The surroundings were no longer that of a rune colored dome , but that of a simple , neat circular clearing , surrounded by woods all throughout . A mid-morning sun blazed in the sky above her and right infront of her was the manifested A.I , Meadar.

Her voice silently spoke within her head. _One of the primary purposes of Manifested is to allow for a person to actually be in multiple places at once , to perform multiple tasks that requires a human body or some equivalent. In other words , multi-tasking, or serving as proxies for their master. For example , they could be emissaries , or additional fighters to assist their master in combat , or to perform other kinds of missions autonomously , such as assassinations or even spying. _

Meadar picked up the explanation from that point . " As for me , I am not merely a Tactical and Strategist A.I , I am also a Combat A.I that supports and provides additional firepower in combat situations , and allow you to engage in combat in multiple offensives at once. Allow me to duel with you , and I will show you what you can expect out of such "

_Think of it as a preview of the capabilities of manifested of sorts, once we reach fully Sync levels. For the purpose of this simulation , Meadar would battle as he would function once we reach full Synchronization, though he will only use spells native to this time-line, besides Reflex and speed buffs. You will not last long as you are right now . Summon your wand . _

Cecelia barely managed to cast a shield to absorb the first barrage of light hexes and curses fired from Meadar.

Another series of curses , this time a sequence of Bombardos and Reductos swiftly penetrated her shield , forcing her to roll out of the way of the next sequence of curses .

Swiftly getting back to her feet , she prepared the same multi-layered series of shields , while casting on herself buffs that sped up her movement and reflexes. She prepared to move on the offensive -

She sensed Meadar Apparating right behind her , barely swung around in time to block the next wave of spell fire , shot a mere few meters away from her . Before she readied her next move , a set of banishing charms with another set of assorted curses , Meadar closed in on her .

She sensed that Meadar transfigured a Rapier right into his hands almost too late . She managed to dodge the first few thrust , but reckoned without Meadar's wand hand . She tried to cast an Impediment Jinx , saw it blocked , then was jinxed with the very same charm in the next spell, throwing her off her feet.

The A.I fired a single Petrificus Totalus as she was thrown off her feet , immediately paralyzing her completely.

The next thing she knew , she felt a cold metal tip pressing gently against her throat. Withdrawing the blade from her throat , Meadar declared : " you lose."

_As expected . I'm sure any questions you have on the effectiveness of these have been nipped in the bud , am I right ?_

The presence in her mind whispered in her head _Finite , _and Cecelia felt herself regaining control over her limbs.

She then remembered something : " Where's the other A.I ? I remembered that Osyrene was also waiting for us ." She asked, as she pulled herself up

She suddenly heard a loud crack in the distance . Turning around to look find the source of the noise , she saw Meadar in a crouching position , his rapier held loosely from his arm in a downward position, as if ready to spring and dodge something from the distance at any moment.

She then realized that there was a blood covered , round circular hole on Meadar's wand arm . Before she could say anything , she heard her own voice speak in her head again.

_Watch . Osyrene will now battle Meadar . You will see the capabilities of an A.I designed for Assassination and infiltration here. _

Cecelia heard another sudden crack. This time Meadar's hand moved at a physically impossible speed , bringing the rapier up. She saw two halves of a brass metal fragment fall to the ground , on either side of the blade.

_Impossible . _She exclaimed inside her mind . _He cut the bullet into two? And he brought his rapier into the correct position that quickly ? Shouldn't his rapier have been shattered by the bullet?_

_Well , the Reflex and Movement buffs you use are technically physically impossible right? Plus , the Rapier itself has been fortified with several enchantments. _

_Oh Right . _Cecelia responded , feeling a tad bit foolish.

Meadar deconjured his rapier , and summoned his wand . A Wandless Accio.

Another shot rang out in the air , forcing Meadar to roll over and dodge . Then another shot , and another , forcing Meadar to keep rolling out of the way . There was no fourth shot , as Meadar , having managed to retrieve his wand in mid air fired off a long range bombarda spell in the general direction of the shot. The shots ceased immediately , as Meadar fired spell after spell at the unseen attacker among the woods, in the same direction .

He then shifted positions , exploded a bullet heading his way from a different direction than before, then firing more spells at the new direction where it came from.

_Osyrene has apparated . If this battle continues on in this matter , it could potentially last indefinitely. Osyrene! Close in ! . _The Interface within her mind ordered.

Meadar narrowed his eyes . To Cecelia , there was only him , and nothing else but an open meadow.

In a swift movement , he pointed his wand at a certain direction , and began firing spells. Not a moment too soon , as counter spell fire was returned from seemingly out of thin air.

_Check your Magical Aura Sight _

Now , she could see a think vaguely human shaped multicolored blur of magic in the direction where the spells were coming from.

_That's Osyrene , isn't it ? _

_It is . She has cloaked herself by bending all Electromagnetic Radiation around her . The problem is , your magical signature still can be read. And if you could hide your magical signature - _

The human shaped blob flickered out of existence , as Cecelia changed her sight to "Reality -sight" .

- _there is no way you could hide the impact your mass makes on gravitational fields. As you can see , total stealth is impossible._

Meadar's moved in a blur , continually changing positions , changing the directions of his spell fire , and the direction of his shields , as spell-fire continued successively fell down from varying directions.

_For all intents and purposes though, true stealth is impossible. And if Osyrene closes in , against an opponent of Meadar's caliber , she wouldn't last for long in close combat . Watch,_

Meadar abruptly switched tactics. Instead of firing precise spells , explosions began shaking the area around him , as he cast Reductos and Bombarda's in all directions . Steadily , the location of the explosion developed in a pattern . Two explosions , then three explosions in three different directions were fired simultaneously. He was steadily cornering his unseen opponent with an unrelenting bombardment of multiple simultaneous explosions at the same time. Then , with another flick of his wand , two more explosions , one infront of the other were added into the pattern.

He gave a smile of victory , as his foe appeared as if she was conjured , falling down to the ground , disabled by one of the explosions that finally connected with her body.

_Revive. _

A brief flash of runes encircled Osyrene and Meadar , and she stood up , the wounds she sustained from the explosion apparently healed . As was the blood red hole on one of Meadar's arms.

She felt the Interface leaving her . And once again , her clone stood right between the two

" What you've seen here is a preview of things to come . We'll be working together later on , as your sync rate increases. Of course , in a real battle , Osyrene would have withdrawn long ago, especially against someone of Meadar's level. " The Interface spoke.

" Now , we will undergo some practice in preparation for the upcoming offensive. "

Cecelia sighed in resignation , as she drew her wand one more , and crouched into a stance for combat.


	9. The Exploited Taboo

Chapter 8 : The Exploited Taboo

" According to our drones , there are four primary concentration of Snatchers . Hogsmeade , Azkaban , Malfoy Manor , and the Ministry of Magic in London . The largest concentrations are in the southern part of Great Britain. Therefore , we shall commerce our efforts in the Northern part of Britain in the first phase. The primary battle-fields of the first phase are located in sparsely populated areas Northern Britain , and Scotland. We will strike first in the Scottish highlands."

Cecelia turned around , looking at the image of the Interface in the eye.

" What about the Dementors ? If we keep up the pressure , they might decide to deploy the Dementors. Furthermore , has Voldermort made any plans - "

" You must be swift then . Eliminate all enemies within 15 minutes , and move on to the next battle-field. Don't worry . Additional drones have been posted around the borders of the zone of engagement, in case the Ministry panics , and decides to sortie Dementors to the fight. That is assuming that they catch on to what is going on. The have generally concluded that they it would take them quite awhile for them to realize what is going on. The Ministry would probably take up to a day to react. These hunting parties after all usually take quite some time. " The Interface responded , in a reassuring tone .

" That's why the first area we will strike at is the Scottish Highlands. They would not be able to sortie their dementors from Azkaban in time to intercept us , even if they caught on to us from the start. Don't worry . Afenia would keep us apprise of the Ministry's response to our attacks." The image of the Interface flickered out.

_0800H , 7 May 1999. Apparate to the First selected Battle-field . Perform Two Apparations northwards , 200 kilometers per apparation. _Her voice quietly instructed within her head.

Cecelia took one last look at the morning sun. The sound of a truck from the nearby road beyond the trees , the A591 , rumbled past. Turning away , she focused on all the wand she had taken in combat. First to be summoned was her very own wand . Then , one by one , the wands gathered around her , sorted by innate compatibility. She stopped at forty wands , then , by instinct , altered their very nature to fit her perfectly.

Her internal clock struck 0800H , and with that , she Apparated off.

Her first destination was right behind a few cottages in Southern Scotland The sound of traffic a few hundered meters away filled her ears.

_We are off the intersection of the M9 and M876. It was difficult finding appropriate places to stage our ambushes , given how densely built up this island is. The region where I grew up in was far less dense than this. _The interface remarked.

_A little bit of your personal life ? Given that you are very reticent to questions pertaining to that ? _Cecelia smirked , as she responded.

She apparatus out again and her second jump took her to a point overlooking a small lake in Scotland .

_We on a ridge over looking Loch Toll an Lochain , near a 997M hill called A'Chailleach. The point where we shall begin . _

_How many Snatchers in Azakaban ? _

_Afenia estimates 120 Snatchers and 32 marked Death-Eaters . The high Snatcher to Death-Eater ratio is due to the numbers of Dementors garrisoned there. _

" Alright then. " Cecelia adressed the interface.

" Are you ready?" Her voice spoke outloud.

Fourty Wands surrounded her , forming a sphere of wands facing outwards.

"Ready."

She took a deep breath . And broke the Taboo.

"Voldermort. " She whispered.

From the North sea , a cold wind cut through her . She closed her eyes in anticipation , activating her Magical Aura sight .

_The Warden of Azkaban has responded to the Taboo. Afenia reports Twelve Snatchers . No Death Eaters. _

_Good. _Cecelia silently replied. She frowned. Twelve_? That's double the standard party of Snatchers. _

_They are on a higher state of alert , ever since the ambush where two death-eaters were killed. Be prepared to cast an outbound Anti-apparation ward over the entire region of the loch. _

Eight of her wands glowed slightly , making a series of intricate movements. She was almost done when a dozen cracks were heard nearby. Twelve Snatchers , dressed in an assortment of fairly well kept sweaters , and a few middle priced robes appeared at that sound.

_Now_

She completed the last part of the outbound Anti-apparation Ward. Appraration out of an area of five kilometers for all Magic Cores besides her own was rendered impossible . It did , however , allowed inbound Apparartion. At the back of her mind , she sensed other consciousness directing aiming the wands , right at the Snatchers below.

One of them spotted her on the ridge above , and began pointing in excitement.

One second later , Forty Wands opened up .

_Should I cook them ? _

An assortment of Reductos , Incendios and Bombardas filled the air. Five of her wands produced the multi layered shield to guard against any counter attacks . The other thiry five rained down dozens of spells for several seconds.

When it was over , there were a few embers floating down to the ground – and a gouged out trench . But no sign of the Snatchers at all.

_Twelve eliminated in ten seconds. Excellent. _

This time , she apparated to another ridge at the opposite end of the Loch. And with greater confidence this time , she broke the Taboo again . She felt a sudden pulse of magic assail her wards , but they easily held.

And then she waited for a few minutes.

_Afenia ! _She asked within her mind . _What's going on ?_

She heard her voice replied. _The Warden is dispatching thirty Snatchers . Two groups of 15 , from two different directions. One to the North , one to the South. Forget about it. He's dispatched another 15 Snatchers right this way . And 3 death -Eaters have sortied, one for each group. _

_Erm... _She nervously replied.

_Take these groups out one by one , as quietly as possible . Don't allow them to rally. No flashy spells. _

_Understood. _She felt determination flowing through her , and steeled herself with it.

She could sense , through her Aura Sight , and by observing the wards that the strike force of 48 enter past the Anti-Apparation Zone . She could hear exactly sixteen cracks mere meters away from her , and sensed 32 more Apparations out of her earshot.

She wasted no time this time round.

Once more , she deployed five wands to the defensive and thirty five wands to the offensive. Before the nearest group properly had a chance to register her presence , she apparated right beneath the group .

"Diffindo maximius" She proclaimed .

Invisible knifes sharper than diamond cut into most members within the group right around her before they had a chance to react . Only four or so managed to block the spell in time , though all of them staggered . She was pleased to note that the Death Eater had went down in the first spell , the spell piercing straight into his heart.

She leapt up into the air , avoiding the despeate counter attacks . At the very apex of her jump , she followed up by deploying four of her wands .

"Sectumsempra !" Four wands were rapidly , wandlessly waved around , forming a blood stain glyph that meant Death in a certain Runic language she chosen at random.

They crumpled down to the floor , rapidly bleeding out to death from their wrist , their chest , their throat and their thighs.

Sixteen wands rose up from the corpses of their fallen masters , circling around her outside her sphere of fourty wands. She dismissed them to the Sanctuary .

Her lips curved upwards in satisfaction , she apparated away to the next group

The second group was located almost right on top of the artificial trench she had blown out of the Earth.

_Satisfied now that you can cut your way out easily if need be ? _The interface asked . It was one of her unspoken fears .

_Cut down on the theatrics and conserve your strength . This will be a long day . _

Cecelia reduced the number of wands summoned from forty to a mere two . Snatching both wands from the thin air , she rapidly moved sideways along the ledge overlooking her foes , and open fire .

" Incareous ! Incendio ! " A long burning whip shot froth from her wands , setting seven Snatchers on fire . The survivors cursed and scattered , scrambling out of the way of their desperate , writhing , running colleagues on fire. Someone had the presence of mind to shout out "Aguamentei ! " and put out the flames.

She immediately shot a bone-driller curse right into the skull of the person who extinguished the rope , before he could recover and block the spell.

With her second wand , she blocked a variety of curses and hexes , ranging from Diffindos to Stunners to a few desperate Reductos .

She faced a Death-Eater right head on , looking him in the eye . Immediately , she picked up his fetish for disembowelment . The Death Eater , panicking , fired a Cruciatus Unforgivable Curse .

She immediately apparated right behind the Death Eater . Before he could turn around , her right wrist twisted , and the second wand fired at the direction behind her .

" Die by your favorite sword. " She commented , as the Organ Expelling Curse literally disemboweled the Death-Eater , from intestine to his heart. Considering the nature of his deviancy, she thought it was rather poetic justice.

She advanced on the remaining Snatchers , as the Death Eater collapsed behind her when his heart was expelled from his body , wand slipping from nerveless fingers.

They took one look at each other and attempted to Apparate away .

She scored four successive head shots , killing them even before they realized the futility of their attempts to Apparate.

_Ready the Anti-Port Key wards too . _A third wand was resummoned , and began working on the Anti-port key wards as she locked onto the third band .

She Apparated right within the third band . Another predictable massacre resulted . Killing the Death-Eater routed the Snatchers , making them easy marks for her rapid-fire spell casting.

As the head of the last body rolled off , sending it's headless corpse crumpling down on it's knees and falling forward onto the ground , the interface spoke again:

_The Death Eater in charge of Hogsmeade has been alerted. Snatchers are being mobilized around Northern England and Southern Scotland. He believe that the breaking of the Taboo means that they have successfully located the position of the Resistance group. Prepare to change battle-fields and launch the Taboo at the other chosen areas around Scotland and Northern England. We'll divide their efforts by giving them the impression that the Resistance group is dispersed by breaking the Taboo at multiple locations. Prepare each battlefield. _

She immediately complied . Activate Anti-port key , anti-apparation , and Dark-mark summoning Jamming wards , she then broke the taboo and moved on to the next battle-field.

On the fifth battlefield , the Interface spoke again .

_63 Snatchers and 12 Death-Eaters are now en-route to Inverness via floo. This includes the Warden of Azkaban . He has learned of the movements of Hogsmeade , and apparently wishes to ensure his glory of securing the victory. _

The Interface spoke again on the fourth Battlefield.

_Our strategy have confused and delayed them . Both Hogsmade and Azakaban strike forces are currently trying to decide on a counter-strategy on dividing their forces. Once their first forces arrive in significant strength on one of the Battle-fields , be prepared to cease preparations of the Battle-field. _

"How many in the Hogsmeade force?" Cecelia asked , as she finished activating the last wards on the Battle-field.

_200 Snatchers and 25 Death-Eaters. Hogsmeade has alerted the Ministry of Magic by Owl. ETA , Five hours. _

On the twelfth Battlefield , the Interface spoke again in her mind.

_The Warden of Azkaban has discovered some of the dead in the first battle-field . The Entire Azkaban force has been deployed. He has also ordered nearly 250 Dementors from Azkaban , out of it's complement of 500. ETA , three hours. _

"Should I jump now ? " Cecelia asked . She broke the Taboo again .

_Negative. Hogsmade has made it's move . They are splitting their forces up into team of nine , one team per Battlefield. Two teams on the first Battlefield , since they have just learned that the Azkaban_

_Who is commanding the Hogsmeade force? And the Warden was at Azkaban? _Cecelia quietly asked , the last question with a little surprise , as she drew her two wands at ready.

_The Carrows at Hogsmeade. Alecto will remain at Hogwarts , while Amycus will take the field.  
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A feral grin lit up on Cecelia's face.

_MacNair himself was... entertaining himself at Azkaban. I'm sure I don't have to go to any details . _

Cecelia made a disgusted face at that thought . _No , you don't. _She grimly replied.

_There is a low risk that . And one of the Head Snatchers have just sent an urgent message to Yaxley. Luckily for us , he is recovering from a bout of Crucio yesterday. He wouldn't be responding for several hours yet. _

_Better and Better _. Cecelia grinned as she heard nine pops , and went to work.

As she leap past a Snatcher and shot a spell at his temple from point blank range , she continued her conversation . _What was Yaxley tortured for?_

_A belated punishment for the failure of his Snatchers in the ambush days before time-fall.. _The Interface replied , as Cecelia blasted another Snatcher with a Confringo .

She shot down the Death-Eater while he was trying to Apparate to no avail , and then coolly annihilated the last five Snatchers with a variety of rather creative mutilation curses in quick succession .

_I see . _She calmly replied , elation coursing through her brains . _Where to next?_

Thirty minutes later , she cleared the eight battle-field . By bursting the unguarded magic core of her last enemy via modified legilimancy.

_So that leaves the first battle-field right ? How many hostiles are swarming around there? _ She asked.

_There are 160 Snatchers and 30Death Eaters on the field. Macnair is still arguing with Carrow. They are surrounded by twelve Death-Eaters and twenty five Snatchers. The remaining forty Snatchers in Hogsmeade , along with the remaining two Death-Eaters are still waiting in reserve , for any additional Taboo Breaking. _The interface replied.

_Looks I've got to go all out then . _Cecelia responded , after briefly considering.

She felt the brief feeling of approval to that statement.

She had a plan to even the odds. She conjured a reproduced Death-eater hood and mask.

A Nano Drone gave her a view of the argument going on between Macnair and Carrow. They were conducting it several meters away from the Water's edge.

She decided to pick a gap just behind two of the Death-eaters and the Snatchers , away from the two Inner Circle's line of site. Visualizing the place , she prepared to Shift , instead of the more conspicuous apparation.

She arrived at her destination , at the exact spot. She ignored the raised voices around her , and locked on to all 39 people in the area. Taking another deep breath , she summoned 40 wands back again from the Sanctuary – and opened fire .

Dust filled the air , a, by product of the rain of various Reductos , Confringos , Bone Breakers , Incendios , Organ Expulsion Spells , and two Full body lock spells on the Death-Eaters.

She had plans for them .

Unfortunately , return spell-fire told her that she had to wait to carry them out. She detected four death eaters , including the two inner circled Death-Eaters , and five snatchers left standing.

She quickly overwhelmed the five snatchers with spell-fire from her wand armada, then did the same for the three Death-Eaters. She immediately sensed a faint head-ache – a sign that she should ease up . She switched back to two wands , dismissed her shields , and quickly leap out of the way of the spell-fire , and went into an appropriate dueling stance.

She heard a voice scream "Marksmonde !" , and the Dark Mark was formed above the waters of the loch.

The dust cleared by this time , revealing the surprised faces of the two Death-Eaters.

She struck first , before they could .

Both deployed their spells unincanted at her . A series of Stunners , a few Incareous to begin with , all easily blocked with her second wand while her first responded with the same spells. Then , Macnair attempted a Disembowelment curse – which she effortlessly blocked . Back and forth each other exchanged spells , steadily escalating the spells in nastiness . Stunners turned to Slicing hexes , which turned to regular bone breakers and Entrail Explulsion curses and the like.

With her Legilimancy , anticipating and blocking each of the spells was extra-ordinarily effortless. Her allowed her to intercept and respond to the spells right on time with ease. And she could clearly see that MacNair was firing the bulk of the spells. Amycus clearly had something else in mind. And she could see it , even though he did not know of it.

" As expected of you , your filthy blood joined those that opposed our Dark Lord. " Amycus sneered , in between the exchange of spell-fires. One particular spell bounced off her shield , emitting a red flare.

" And while your power is certainly impressive , for someone of blood as filthy as yours , I'm afraid , that this is the end of the road . " He continued sneering , in the taunting voice .

_Keep on going , Amycus . Your trump card merely plays into my hands, _Cecelia silently thought, in a tone of amusement .

She could sense the next spell. They were going to escalate this battle to the very top .

It came form Macnair .

"Crucio !" She hurled herself right out the way .

"Avada Kedava !" A summoned physical shield of carbon blocked it , but shattered in the process of doing so .

They thought they had her . Another Crucio landed right to her right , which forced her to leap back -

And at the same time , Amycus cried "Sonorous. Get her" . Her ordered , as he shot green-sparks in the air , in a configuration that was the Death-Eater sign for an ambush

The Ridge Line immediately erupted with the ear-piercing shouts and battle cry of over a hundred Snatchers and Death-eaters. It was like World War I soldiers. Charging. To their deaths.

And then , Cecelia did something that she knew would have been regarded as unbelievable. She parried , and blocked a Crucio that Macnair had fired at her. Parried a curse believed to be unblockable by the primitives of this time.

It was perfect. Too perfect. Amycus was gloating at his victory , while Macnair was momentarily surprised by while she just did. She gave a cocky grin.

Two wands , unnoticed within the turmoil apparated , and stunned both Amycus and Macnair.

"Levicorpus !" She declared , lifting the unconscious Amycus and Macnair up by their ankles. She body locked them both with her second wand just in case.

Then , she apparated herself , and the two death-eaters up in the air by fifty meters right above the center of the loch– and casually maintained all three of them up in the sky with a levitation spell. The horde charging at her opened fire at the same time at the position she had just vacated – right into the front-ranks of each other .

They milled around in confusion . Someone then spotted her and gave a cry of surprise.

_Checkmate ._She shouted in jubilation " Fiendfyre !"

And serpents of fire issued forth from BOTH her wands.

The mob abruptly froze. Then screams broke out as the flames raced downwards , right down on the mass below.

She took the time to wake up both Death-eaters , and used a spell to prevent their eyes from closing.

From the air , the twin serpents branched out into dozens of tendrils , perfectly controlled with the aid of a dozen danced around the lake rim , scotching all humans around the basin alive , connecting with complete precision , right into the stampeding crowd desperately running away .

Both death-eaters had an utterly dazed and stun look to their eyes . They might have been too hardened to have broken down , but shocked they certainly were.

Screams broke out around the Wizards remaining around the ledge below , as they scrambled to get away .

There was no respite . The tendrils merged into four different tounges of fire . It snaked up the ridge and supersonic speeds , swiftly overtaking the fleeing wizards . Many froze , trying to apparate away to no avail . Whether they attempted to flee by foot , or by Apparating away , it did not matter. All were vaporized by the fires, reduced to ash , reduced to less than ash , leaving less than a shadow on the ground .

Cecelia smirked at the outcome.

" Well , Gentleman , what do you think ?" Cecelia drawled slowly , the smirk still on her face.

There was only stunned silence.

" Oh well the , I suppose I have dispose of you by a more suited manner . " She commented in a nonchalant , neutral voice .

" Amycus . There is a certain spell designed to exploit the vulnerabilities that Unforgivables inflict on your soul . I will make your entire being suffer and feel all the agony that you've inflicted over the past few years via this vulnerabilities. Till you die. "

His eyes bulge wide open , and he began blubbering incoherently.

" Oh hush . It will be over soon . That , at least , is one small mercy I'll grant you . "

" Justicar. " Amycus began making a ear piercing scream , thrashing wildly at impossible angles as he hung suspended by the Levicorupus spell. To her soul-sight , she saw the hair-line cracks in his soul , the result of the unforgivable he had used so often erupted. Black fire emerged from these cracks , forcing them wide open , tearing his soul apart. His mind shattered to pieces by this time. His vocal cords gave out , as screams of humanly impossible magnitudes tore his voice box into a mangled mess. His soul split apart , and the fragments collapsed upon themselves.

" I suppose it's good bye then " She released the soul-less corpse from the shackles of her spells , conjured an ultra-dense weight and sent it falling right down into the loch below. It sank into the water , and left a rapidly fading ripple.

" As for you Macnair . " She turned to smile at the other Death-eater , who maintain a complete poker face.

Of course , the real state of his mind was radically different. Ah well. These pitiful attempts at Occlumancy did have certain benefits.

" Now , what would be the most effective punishment for you? I wonder , sadomasochist?" There was an extremely crooked grin on her face ,as her eyes were locked intently on MacNair's eyes.

_Like I said , she's unstable. _One voice argued with clearly evident disgust.

_Battle brings out the worst in us don't they? _The second voice indirectly replied.

_They bring out the worst in anyone with a mind and soul . _The third ruefully reflected.

_And what happens when the sync completes itself? _The youngest , most curious voice asked.

The minds remained silent for a moment.

_Catharsis. _

_Elaborate._


	10. An Inventory in Frozen Time

Chapter 9 : An inventory in frozen time 

By the time she stumbled through the open portal to the Sanctuary , the initial sense of giddy elation combined with adrenaline was replaced by a growing sense of tiredness , a throbbing head and a rather persistent inability to concentrate . It felt like her body ran on auto-pilot.

When she walked through the portal , her consciousness blacked out.

She felt a sensation of nothingness. No , a dreamless sleep would be a more apt word to use.. There was only a single word. _Reset. _

She blinked her eyes , seeing a flowing meadow and a incandescent blazing noon sun directly above her. Was that blackness and sensation of floating in a dreamless state a mere illusion?

" No. " She heard her voice said .

Cecelia didn't bother turning around to respond. " Including the word reset? "

" You needed rest . Your mental stamina was at an end , so resetting your mind in the Sanctuary was the most expedient solution. " The Interface replied in an even tone.

" Rest ? " She asked . " That term is unfamiliar in magical theory . "

" Where you can cast spells indefinitely ? But the level of magic you displayed repeatedly over the last two hours took a toll in your mind , given that you were pushing the limits of your skill and power. Even if this system of magic is technically both skill and power , it is also will and emotion – both of which is part of the mind. " The Interface countered. " Of course , for all intents and purposes , Wizards don't usually cast forty spells at a time - dozens of times over. Or execute such a display of Fiendfyre – a spell notorious for both it's skill , and drain on mental stamina. " It shrugged. " Well , I did ask you to pace yourself here . What you did was within the power of your optimized Magical core and channels , but you were pushing at your limits there."

She was about to make an objection to that , to point out that A.I assistance was suppose to negate that when the answer came right to her then and now , per-empting the question.

She decided to take another approach . " So you are saying my sync level isn't high enough yet to utilize A.I efficiently enough in that manner? "

" You've summarized correctly." The Interface replied. " Which is why A.I summoning in the flesh is that hard. Power , skill and Stamina , as you know , increase with sync . But it's not power that's the issue here, but skill and stamina instead ." She gave a frown . " Do you have a guilty pleasure in exposition?" 

Cecelia was taken aback at that question . " Who is asking ? Afenia ? "

"Therea ."

" I didn't think she had it in her to ask a question in that manner. " Cecelia sounded skeptical.

" True , it's both Afenia and Therea . But your inability to discern the relationship between both at a glance is prove of your lower sync. " The Interface explained .

" So , what's the status of my sync , after this morning's exercise.?" Cecelia casually asked.

For a moment , she thought she saw the Interface looked disturbed at the question. If it was so , the Interface gave no other signs as it replied. " 48.94% . Up by 28.39% . Which means that you have more options and abilities at your disposal when we proceed to execute the next part of this battle . If you are interested , I could - "

" I am. " Cecelia interrupted , eyes glimmering in eagerness.

" Very well . " They found themselves by the pool side , seating as if getting ready for a lunch. Complete with a dining table and utensils laid out in perfect nuances of etiquette.

And in came the A.I Cecelia was beginning to think off the "faux-butler" , Iarin from the doorway in the direction of the dining hall she found herself that morning. Behind him were floating platters of various delicacies. As he bowed , the plates serenely floated towards the table.

" We shall have lunch over it then , since this will take quite awhile , since you want it that way ." The Interface concluded with a smile.

At precisely 1400H , Cecelia stood outside the Sanctuary. Focusing briefly , she summoned Afenia's presence in her mind.

_What are their reactions ? _She asked.

_Neither Azkaban nor Hogsmeade have dispatched any follow up team to the battle-field , yet. As far as the ministry is aware , a good proportion of the Hogsmeade and Azkaban garrisons are currently sweeping the area in response to the multiple violation of the Taboo. It will be quite sometime before they realize somethings wrong._

_How long do you anticipate that will take?_

_Five Hours. And even then , you did a good job in erasing all traces of the battle. As far as the Ministry is concern , the entire force you massacred just simply... disappeared , without a trace. It'll be two or three days before Voldermort is even informed. We are not surprised. Voldermort has a partly justified reputation for executing bearers of bad news , so this is quite an ironic justice , in our opinion. _

_Our ? _Cecelia queried.

_Oh , several of us ._ _Don't worry that much about it. Meadar estimates that Phase 1 would have accomplished all it's objectives and rack on an acceptable kill count by the time Voldermort is in a position to react. _The A.I sounded extremely certain on that .

_Just be sure to erase all evidence once you're done. _Her own voice interjected.

_So we strike south now? _The thought this time was directed to Meadar.

His presence entered her mind from beyond the edge of her consciousness.

Eight various terrain maps appeared , of various regions throughout Wales and Cornwall.

_Muggle Repelling Wards . Out-bound Anti-Apparation Wards. Comms Jamming Wards. The templates of these three wards have been uploaded into your consciousness for virtual casting. You'd best get started setting them up on each selected battle-field , if you want to get it over with before the night is out. _Meadar crisply replied.

Virtual casting . It was one of the new techniques that , in that increasingly familiar fashion suddenly appeared in her mind , during that long lunch conversation. It basically used a certain concept unknown to magic of this era , known as a template. She knew from vividly remembered first year lessons on magical theory that casting spells with a continuous effect usually consumed a certain amount of a Wizard's power to be continuously maintained , unless it was affixed to a certain objects , like the Ward-stones at the very foundations Hogwarts which maintained it's protections.

Furthermore , most of these wards that she cast required a certain degree of time and numerous intricate manipulations of magic, given their complexity compared to normal charms. All ward creating charms suffered from the same draw-back to varying extents However , there were ways to get around this , though. One could "load" ward casting charms up to create a "template", before hand , and simply allow one's magic to flow through a "template" , therefore instantly setting up complex defenses , so long as enough magical power was available. So long as the template could be remembered , the very act of recollection would suffice to allow for these wards to be instantly cast.

These templates itself technically qualified for objects – namely her very own magic. Therefore , these wards would behave exactly like a ward bound to an object. So long as no-one attempted to challenge the ward , magical power was not consumed.

Of course , this required quite a significant degree of close interaction with . Attempting something like this without that degree of control and sync with the could easily result in the implosion of the caster's magical core. Needless to say , no wizard alive at this time could hope to copy what she was about to do safely. You could end up with your mind shattered as a result of such an implosion , just like some victims of the Curicatus curse, though from slightly different causes

This whole experience ,she ruefully reflected , quite surreal. A morning of intense combat had passed with, the pulling off of feats that she would have regarded as impossible just a few days ago. If she had the presence of mind to comprehend that , that was . Even as muted as the memories of her imprisonment were , the recollections of the last months of her imprisonment was a chaotic swirl of vague impressions – that she would rather not recall.

With that thought , she recalled another cause of concern.

_Dementors ? _

_Estimates indicate that ETA for any Dementor intervention is at least an hour and a half. Approximately. _

_Alright then . _Cecelia visualized a phone being put down , closing the conscious connections between the , except for the Interface.

Dealing with several hundred Dementors was still out of her league at the current level of sync. However , she had assess to the knowledge of a spell even more complex than the Partonus that could potentially erase Dementors from this plane of existence. She could handle one or two of them at that stage , but casting that spell hundreds of times in quick succession was still beyond her Sync rate.

Dismissing these thoughts to the back of her mind, she apparated out to begin the preparations.

She would focus on the here and now.

* * *

><p><p>

Within the Ministry , there lies a network of rooms in the Office of Improper Use of Magic. Before the war , it's primary function was to house the magical array designed to detect underage magic , by signals sent via the trace

When the Ministry fell to Voldermort's forces two years ago , a spare of the array was commissioned to create the Taboo. Instead of underaged magic however , it was modified to detect something much more subtle. The precise vibrations of the air that formed the syllabus of the word... Voldermort. The Taboo was detecting an action more specific , yet also less observable than the simple casting of magic

Afenia , or rather , the A.I under her assigned to observe noted that the mechanics of the Spell was more complex to a significant degree that the vast majority of spells deployed by the Mages of this time.

The array specifically took the physical shape of the map of the British Isles. Should Voldermort's name be pronounced anywhere on the Islands , a single red spot will shimmer on the map , and a magical alarm would have been sounded , mustering Snatchers immediately for Apparation to the target. The very modification of the array stood as a testimony for the still highly dangerous intelligence of one Tom Riddle.

In the two years since , additional arrays were installed in Hogwarts , Azkaban and Malfoy manor.

Normally , these arrays would have been a source of complication , since the spell originally would have notified Voldermort , should the Taboo be broken. However , during his search , and in the first days of the Taboo , several false alarms meant that Voldermort severed that connection to his conscious mind. It was not restored yet . A truly fortuitous fact indeed.

Still , the Taboo was monitored , and even adapted for the pursuit of Muggle-borns and other undesirables. There were even other code words used to summon for reinforcements , and co-ordinate muggle-born hunts virtually the entire Snatcher force was meant to be slaved in to the system , even two years since. Dissensions between the Death-Eaters in charge of each of the four arrays however provided a second happy coincidence. No Snatcher was slaved in to more than one array. Add to the fact that each array had a limited effective range , that meant that the activation of the Taboo would affect only one of these arrays , unless the range of two or more arrays overlapped each other. These conditions did not exist in Cornwall nor Wales.

It was a prime trap.

And it was sprung.

Somewhere in the ministry ,lying on a dais in the Ministry of Law Enforcement was a map of Britain. A single red , narrow burst of light , like that of a stunner emerged out from the apparent map. The howling alarm blared throughout the Snatcher's quarters . A muted version , like a kind of a soft , brief ring broke out through the consciousness of every Snatcher within the London area of control. The nano-drones tagged to the Death-eater in charge of the Taboo indicated that he to , was alerted.

Unlike Azkaban or Hogsmeade , where the Death-eaters stationed there were on the alert , due to the presence of "undesirables" in the North (the nano-drones had detected several cells in the Scottish Highlands, and was currently working out the leaders of these scattered ragged tag groups of blood-traitors , half-bloods and muggle-borns), the Ministry of Magic Taboo was monitored by a Death-Eater outside the Inner Circle.

In another stroke of luck , he did not bother to immediately alert Yaxley . Who , incidentally , was off visiting a certain... entertainment outside London. It was complacency at its finest . Meadar estimated that these factors would give them at least two extra hours of free reign , without fear of dementor interference , or a counter-strategy against this plan.

Voldermort was not informed . He would not learn of what would happen until the next Death-eater conference , if previous time-lines held true . That meeting would occur in three days. By which time , irreparable damage would have been dealt.

Had Afenia a physical form then , she would have smirk at least. More likely , she would have broken out into maniacal laughter.

_Snatchers incoming. Five of them . _

Information feeds from the nanodrones monitoring the area informed her that they were moving around , arranged in a vaguely circular formation.

A single wand was drawn. The image of the location of the five of them formed within her mind. With a single thought , silently verbalized as a Bombardia , her magic leapt across space . iThe probability of the location of her spells shifted from right in front of the wand , to right in the middle of he formation. This was remote spell-casting. So long as her consciousness was aware of the state of a certain location , she could could... apparate spells , for the lack of a better word , from her wand right to that location.

The Snatchers only had a fraction of a seconds warning. A powerful wizard experienced at combat would have had enough time to throw up a shield in that brief moment where the magical auras around them surged. The Snatchers , alas did not have enough sensitivity to the magics around them , nor were their combat instinctives adequate enough to defend themselves from that attack .

Four hundred meters away , an explosion of respectfully ear shattering volume pierced the air. The nano-drone dispassionately recorded a significant cloud of dust and smoke concealing the effects of the explosion from visual sight. All that was left , behind that dust and smoke was a small crater , and a few body parts. They were vanished away with another remote-spell.

_Nicely done. Proceed to the next location , and spring the trap again. _Her voice firmly instructed in her mind.

Cecelia stood there with a rapturous look on her face. The adrenaline and rush of battle began fading away , though the sense of elation remained. She was allowed a single moment to savor this , before she disapparated away to the next battle-field.

Within the department of Law Enforcement , the alarm went off the second time , to the surprise of the Snatchers manning the Taboo Trace Map. This time , the location was different. Another red light glowed on the map , this time around the border of England and Wales.

The Death-Eater gave a frown. The Taboo being broken twice in a role ? Plus , all those anomalous readings up north in the morning too. He immediately murmurred a spell , instructing twelve Snatches to be dispatched to the latest violation of the Taboo , and another seven to the last Taboo. Something unusual was going on too.

He quickly sent prompts to four of his colleague death-eaters.

The swift swirl of a self-writing quill swiftly transcribed an urgent request for information on the earlier violations of the Taboo to Azakaban and Hogsmade via owl. Something was going on here. He also briefly considered sending another owl to Yaxley. No. It was not a good idea , at this juncture yet , he decided.

Afenia decided that this Death-eater would make an entertaining opponent to observe , if anything else . She also shifted her recommendation for the prioritization for his elimination up to Osyrene. It was a shame . He was interesting , but unfortunately , a dangerous opponent by the sheer virtue of his competency.

She waited for a few more minutes , perusing the information the nano-drones were dispatching from the two battlefields. The second battle-field was resolved within three minutes. The twelve Snatchers arrived at a small clearing . Cecelia pulled off the same trick again , but this time , two Snatchers managed to react in time. More precisely , one reacted in time , and the other was caught at the edge of the blast. The latter was downed by a volley of long-range spells while he was getting to his feet. The former reacted by throwing up an even more powerful shield in the direction of the spell-fire. He reckoned without a well placed remote spell casting that sent a bone breaker careening right into his spine before he had a chance to change the direction of his shield. Cecelia gave that same , almost euphoric smile on her face as she eliminated the last , crippled Snatcher with a spell induced Cardiac arrest. She vanished the corpse , before moving back to the first battle-field.

The third battle ended in the same way .

Afenia did a quick count . There were 621 Snatchers left alive. 389 Snatchers had been eliminated ever since time-fall , in just six days. It was quite a neat , round figure of Snatchers to begin with . 1010 Snatchers in all. There were 204 Death-Eaters left. The activity only occupied her for a few nanoseconds.

It was at this point Cecelia sent a mental query for exactly that same information.

_More proof that this sync is progressing at an unsually fast pace. In a mere six days , of your level are responding to her wishes even before it reaches the level of consciousness. Something of that level usually would take far more than a single week. _Therea's mild , ethereal voice communicated verbally.

_Really ? Well , she isn't a boring host , at any rate then . _Afenia lightly commented.

Her nanodrones observing the Taboo Trace recorded another red-pulse , on the third battle-field. And then another , on the fourth. And then another , on the fifth.

_She's forcing our opponent to commit. _Meadar observed. _It's quite a reckless move. _

_It's fascinating. Besides , we can't have our opponent over there mulling over things , or being given enough time to pause and think deeply. It's working after all. _Afenia highlighted the Death-eaters body language in the feeds transmitted to Meadar to emphasize her point.

The Legelimantic capable Nanodrone had no problems penetrating the shield and reading the thoughts of the now tense death-eater. How many should he commit this time ? Should he ignore it ? Should he recall his Snatchers from various observation and pursuit missions throughout Britain , that he could muster?

A few minutes of agonizing decision making followed as he considered his move. If it was nothing , then he risked Yaxley , or even Voldermort's wrath. If it was something... He came to a decision.

There was a nervous look on his face as he began issuing his orders , as he made his move. Tiny beads of anxious sweat , barely visible to the naked eye began appearing across his face. He pressed down on his Dark-mark , sending a slight stream of communications magics through it towards the heads of various Snatcher bands.

One hundred and twenty eight incoming apparition vectors converged upon the Ministry of Magic , where 93 other Snatchers were on stand-by. Putting nearly a third of the Snatchers covering England on standby , and all Snatchers covering Wales was perhaps as much as he could summon ,and justify for it.

After all , five incidents of Taboo breaking suggested two things. The perpetrator was either moving around various locations . Or there were multiple perpetrators.

Furthermore , it looked like it was the hallmarks of an ambush of sorts. Perhaps whoever broke the Taboo was counting on Snatchers being sent in penny packets.. If the second theory was true , it stood to reason that whoever was breaking things had enough wands to deal with a standard party of five to six Snatchers with confidence of victory.

He decided to send 30 Snatchers per site , leaving 71 Snatchers in reserve.

He cast another spell , issuing verbal orders to each of the Snatcher pack-leaders . They were instructed to use their standard tracking signals. They were to activate the insignia that allowed him to summon them if they encountered any resistance.

Then he waited , terminating the spell. Monitoring these many Snatchers was a tiring task.

And he waited.

In the meantime , his four subordinate full death-eaters filed into the Taboo room , one by one , in response to his signal.

A discussion broke out among all five of them on the best course of actions . The main death-eater himself had his mind distracted in anticipation of an alert from the Snatchers on the field.

Afenia really wished she had the body to burst into laughter with her right now. She knew why the Death-Eater was getting no signals at all.

She noted that Meadar sent a prompt to one of the tactical mage in Cecelia's sub-conscious to allow a certain signal through .

Finally , after an hour, the Death Eater heard a signal. A single light bell rang in his consciousness , signaling that his Snatchers had found something at last. The signal itself from the Snatchers showed up as a tiny simulacrum of the Dark-mark . Only it was crimson , to indicate that THEY were under attack . Afenia recognized this as the fifth selected battle-field.

He decided to raise the Death-eaters in the other four areas of violation. There was nothing. He couldn't raise his Snatcher leaders . He sensed neither their aura , nor presence on the first location. Frowning , he moved on to the second , third , fourth , then fifth locations. There was no response. He tried again . There was nothing . By the third time , his eyes began betraying the state of his mind , darting back and forth with in a wild eyed daze. Something was wrong.

A brief argument ensured between the other four of them . Should they send teams to all five sites , or to just one? More Snatchers were called up , a 105 more were pulled out of patrols, and rest shifts throughout England.

The leading Death Eater threw a formation of fifty towards the source of the distress signal immediately , re-routing six patrols in Western England and Cornwall , and dispatching 20 more from the Snatchers waiting at the DMLE. The remaining were quickly divided among the four battle-fields.

An argument almost broke out between who should lead each of those teams. The leading Death-eater pulled rank , and forced each death-eater to each team. 25 Snatchers were sent per-team.

Meadar again advised Cecelia to return to the first battle-field , and leave the fifth battle-field for last.

In twelve minutes , four of the battle-fields were cleared. And now , only the fifth battle-field was left. In each of the four battle-fields , the Taboo Trace was activated , flickering in desperation for a few seconds before abruptly fading out. Once , every three minutes.

The Death-eater finally snapped under the pressure. He could no longer take it anymore. On top of the 326 Snatchers deployed , he summoned another 124 Snatchers . They were supposed to ]be on the night watch. He had no choice. The remaining 71 Snatchers were either out of country, stationed in Malfoy manor , or what was left of the Hogsmeade and Azkaban complements , still awaiting for news, still leaderless.

He sent another urgent owl to Yaxley. No replies had come in yet.

He swallowed his pride. Another urgent message was sent via paper-plane to the Deputy of the Department of Law Enforcement and the Muggleborn Registration committee. A terse request was put out for dementors.

It would not come in , until after nightfall.

He could no longer wait . Too many resources had been committed. He had to find out what was going on , in person. He should have done that from the start.

As Cecelia mopped up the final battle-field , Afenia quoted the numbers amassed for that final hurrah to her. 174 Snatchers , and 1 Death-Eater.

With a flourish she did not recall consciously making , the last enemy on the field , a Death-eater collapsed down onto the grown , putrid growths overruning up from his Dark-mark down to the rest of his limbs. Another quick vanishment removed all traces of the Death-eater.

She sagged a little , leaning against a tree.

_Well done. There just one last battle-field to go. But feel free to take a short breather first. The Snatchers are amassing on the fifth battle-field . Apparently , the Death-eater has decided to amass every Snatcher he can get his hands on there. _The Interface spoke within her mind.

_How many ? _She tersely asked , silently.

The past hour and a half had gone by in a blood soak daze. She returned to the same five battle-fields over and over again. And again , and again , all who met her swiftly perished. Yet , it was tiring. Extremely tiring. The elation of battle had given way to a tired numbness.

_175 in all. _

There was a shot pause , as Cecelia gazed away into the mid-afternoon mid-spring sky.

_Chilled Chocolate ? _

She felt a small burst of magic reach out in the direction of the Sanctuary's assess point.

The next thing she knew , a vase shaped glass of iced cold chocolate materialized from her hands.

_Just a little something before the final engagement , compliments of Iarin. We'll go after you're done. _

She quietly savored the taste. With each sip, the numbness felt like it was fading away , replaced with an invigoration , and fire. She wouldn't be surprised if that glass wasn't mere , simple chocolate.

Well , whatever it was , it tasted exactly like the finest milk chocolates . The interface remained silent on that , though she was sure that it was monitoring her thoughts at the back of her consciousness.

Finishing the last drops of the chilled chocolate drink , she placed the glass , as if on an invisible table. It dematerialized , and returned to the Sanctuary before gravity began acting on it.

She pulled herself out of the slouch against the tree , feeling a slight tinge of disappointment. Strange . Why did she thought of that drink as inappropriate for her age?

_It's time then. _At the prompting , she dismissed her musings.

An image topographic map , complete with annotations on the locations and positions of each hostile appeared within her awareness , in the same manner as the formation of her visual imagination. At the underlying edge of her awareness , data regarding the positions , magical power , estimated spell-sets and tactical advisory on the best approaches for defeating each and every sungle target flitted in and out .

It was both challenging and easier at the same time. Her nano-drones informed her that the 175 hostiles were scattered across a sizable , approximately circular area of space of approximately 12 kilometers of radius, in a steadily expanding and thorough spiral like search pattern.

She had to keep all of them in somehow. Her per-prepared wards only extended out five kilometers. It was an obvious problem.

With a seemingly solution came to her from outside her conscious mind. One that she lacked the means for mere hours ago, at her previous level of Sync.

From 63.9 kilometers away, she prepared the longest remote spell she had done so far that day . Data on the space-time around them the nano-drones flooded in through her consciousness , and out beyond with rapidity. And then , she felt some force draw on her magic , then drew deeper still to something that felt alike , and even closer to the material of her soul in a continuous torrent . It resembled an Undetectable Extension charm in some ways , but instead of expanding the space within , the dimensions of the space within remained unaffected. What came out from her magics however was much alike the other component of that charm – the forging of a boundary within the affected space. Yet the spell went one step further from that. It curved that space within itself , forcing all at the edge to spiral back to the center should they attempt to spiral , or even walk straight out of the boundary.

Such a feat was within the uppermost boundary of what she could accomplish with the current boundaries . The mental strain and overwhelming fatigue immediately kicked in , much like when she had cast that highly controlled Fiendfyre . The spell consumed all her thoughts. Spatial-temporal co-ordinates , Spatial-temporal Topography , Time Dilation , Nano-drone Co-ordinate re-compensation . A dozen more alien , and barely comprehensible concepts poured into her mind.

In the midst of the all devouring mental torrent , a barely perceptible sensation clicked within her brain. From a-far , she thought she heard the words sync , in her voice.

Erupting from the edge of her consciousness were multiple different consciousness flooding over a dissolving barrier . Her mind expanded , assimilated , integrated these conscsiousness , with their steams of parallel thoughts and rich banks of memory , and the one unified will driving them all , with her very mind. Her consciousness exploded.

She suddenly felt a sense of hyper-awareness. The world became sharper , and more vivid. Details underlay what she could see. She could sense the trail of the spell she had just cast . She could sense the dull burn out after images that marked the death of each of her enemies in there. She could trace the fading ripples on reality that the exchange of spells did.

It was more than that. There was another surge of euphoria . The closest thing she could describe it was was a feeling much like invincibility , or hope , or the adrenaline rush of battle. But instead of the sense of physical invincibility , there was a heady sense of what she could only term as Mental expansiveness. The closest feeling she could associate that current feeling with was the thrill of intellectual success. Like breezing through a particularly interesting mathematical paper with ease , or the elation accompanied by the act of writing.

It was like her mind just got larger , and faster , with the ability to multi-task with ease. She could resolve an entire paper's worth of Arithmancy problems simultaneously , that much she was convinced of.

A.I Integration. One mind possessing the power of hundreds of brains. Such a phenomena could only be described in analogies , the terms behind them yet to be invented. She could no more describe that phenomena in English , than a Babylonian Astrologer could begin to explain the theory of Relativity.

She decided to test the new boundaries.

One hand shot up in the air , a fist unclenched , like some invisible fire-ball thrown into the air.

Four circles of runes formed around her , glowing light and formations unseen by the naked eye spiraling up and around and upon each other in intricate , interlinking patterns , as four magic cores took shape around her. When she had first summoned the in the flesh , she never experienced the process in that degree of detail or depth of reality , as she was now.

The lights resolve themselves into forms of apparent flesh and blood.

The forms of four constructs stood , arranged at the four corners of an invisible square around Cecelia. To her front , and right , stood Meadar . She did not recognize the other three. They were not summoned in that balcony overlooking that simulated sea. Yet , their names , experiences , and even thoughts resonated throughout her greatly expanded consciousness.

For a moment , she knew them , even better than she had known any other acquaintances in life. But then , that potentiality was sealed . To acknowledge them , to understand them to that detail was to end an illusion she still wished to embrace.

She felt a brief thought of acknowledgment .

The sense of hyper-reality crystallized , and the torrent throughout her mind finaly abated , and stabilized, clearing her cluttered thoughts.

Relative silence returned to her mind, but the sharpened sense of reality did not. Nor was the faint sense of awareness from the nano-drones at the edge of her mind , information to be called at her fingertips should she chose. And right behind , like a faint silhouette , was the artificial mind called Afenia , one of an army of Intelligent Constructs , forged by principals that her world only touched the thinnest crust of.

It was a pity that the conjuration of an transfiguration- and summoning spell shielded long range contemporary Sniper Rifle , or at least one of those simple Klashnikovs charmed with Silencing charms a certain group of Muggle-born terrorists deployed in a related time-line (let alone directed energy weapons) was still beyond her means. Now , if she had the spell-templates for their conjuration , just like she had for the Ward Castings , or even the Space-distortion fields , it would have been a simple matter. Of course , this battle would have ended in a massacre then. No matter though . Their unarmed selves alone were sufficient.

Her hand gripping two wands , she apparated out , followed by her four companion constructs , to five different co-ordinates in accordance to an unspoken plan.

She sensed the small group of five death-eaters mere micro-seconds before emerging from apparation. They were "conveniently" grouped in one straight column. Entering the battle-field from their right side , a barrage of five heat-seaking tungsten carbine projectile conjuration spells cut them down noiselessly through their heads before they even had the opportunity to note her presence.

She casually vanished the bodies , and moved on to the next knot of Snatchers further down the ridge line. It was a shame that she could not lure more Death-Eaters into the huge trap of broken terrain.

She was aware of the similar , swift dispatchment of four other groups of Snatchers that took place almost simultaneously. Some immediately drowned in the fluids of their lungs , some were abruptly beheaded by unseen , ultra thin wires , one even had his heart vanished from his body after surviving the initial attack.

The last one posed quite a problem though – the drones detected three groups of Snatchers converging on the position as a result.

No matter . Fifteen against one was still uneven odds for their opponents..

There were 35 packs when they had begun. There were now 31 – no make that 30 packs – Cecelia noted in satisfaction as one of the constructs micro-apparated behind one of the packs , and noiselessly eliminated them with a horizontal charged Diffindo .

If there was a definition of an anti-climatic one sided battle , this would redoubtably have been a prime demonstration of that concept. The same sense , the rush of battle , the satisfaction of seeing her enemies collapse onto the ground , bleed out from a hundred wounds , blown apart into smithereens , pulverized with transfigured weapons and burned alive was sweetly intoxicating .

Worryingly so. Was this glee wrong on some level? A sudden airbust of compressed air shattered the ribs of another team , fragments of bones perforating their hearts before the Snatchers could even cast a single spell.

Another had his left arm and right leg shattered by a bone-breaking curse. Desperately , he tried to crawl away , slowly from the massacre. He barely moved a few dozen centimeters , when a spike suddenly pierced him right through his mid-section. His scream was abruptly cut off as the Spike transfigured into an expanding sheet of cast-iron , bisecting the abdomen and intestines down , and the spine , lungs and throat up.

She told herself that it was a false moral dilemma. She knew herself from first-hand experience that they would have done the same. It was justice , she believed.

Or was it just her conception of justice?

_It was what you wished. _

It was her own voice , but not the interface's .

Pack after pack of Snatchers fell , ambushed and swiftly eliminated. Gradually , the surviving packs were drawing closer and closer to the center of the shrinking barrier.

The last five teams of Snatchers were finally driven back into a clearing. Cecelia and her constructs surrounded them , approaching from five different directions , cornering them , as the boundaries of the barriers passed by , it's space-distorting effects momentarily relenting to allow them to remain in their positions. It shrunk to a radius of five meters.

There it was. The Death-eater who ran the Snatchers operations out of the Ministry. Best not to think of his name , nor his mind , nor his motivations. She ignored , and filtered out his emotional state , and his face from her perception.

She intended to cast a quick volly of Reductos and Bombardias to quickly finish them off. But before she could raise her wands , she realized her hands were moving involuntarily , drawing a strange rune through gestures. Her Magical Aura sight could see the runes clearly , even if it was invisible to human eyes . Those were the runes describing the barrier. The runes repeated themselves a second time , on a smaller scale , then a third , on an even smaller scale , approaching the center of the rune formation.

A single middle finger halted at the apparent center of the circle , but the set of runes continued writing themselves. Those were the runes slowly collapsing into themselves , repeating themselves in ever smaller and smaller patterns , shrinking into an infinitesimally small radius at the very center of the runic circle. Like a Mandelbrot set repeating itself repeatedly , zoomed in to a point so small that Space-time made no sense. At that point , the process halted.

The Snatchers milled about at the edge of the barrier , an invisible wall keeping them in.

She then jabbed the center of the Runic Circle with the middle finger of her right hand , right at them in a gesture that would have been considered exceptionally crude in polite company. She then lowered her hands. It was not her consciousness , or will behind this.

She then perceived the barrier closing right into them , it's bottom one atoms width beneath them , it's top boundary one atoms width above the tallest of them all. They could not jump up , nor squat down.

And soon , they could not move side ways , as the space between them shrunk till they were jammed side by side. To her horror , the barrier did not stop shrinking. To her horror , even though a sizable part of her instincts cried out for her to end this with a single spell ,

"Disappear." Her voice spoke.

She did not hear the screams . She was not allowed too . But what she saw was bad enough. There was a brief flash , as flesh , blood , bone , organ , mind and soul compressed together , as the space they occupied shrunk into one cylinder too small to be seen by human eyes in a single second. In the next second , the cylinder's height began collapsing even faster , until that concoction of matter became so dense that it formed a singularity. A very , very tiny blackhole.

She didn't want to know what her soul-sight saw.

And then the spell ended in a very tiny but poweful burst of energy , as the very tiny blackhole of no more than a ton in mass dissipated away in a fraction of a nano-second.

It was there and then she vomited her lunch on the ground.

And blacked out. Whether from exhaustion , or horror , she did not have time to ponder.


End file.
